2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: State by State

Testimonials

What does it mean to be a part of the NEA Student Program? Three members share their own experiences and reasons for joining.

"I've always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was a little girl. The NEA Student Program is a wonderful group to belong to because you get to meet people from all over the U.S. and learn about their experiences and their perspective on teaching."

Jessica Jepson
Highland Community College
Highland, Kansas

"The NEA Student Program opened my eyes to many aspects and benefits of teaching I had not considered. Now that I have more knowledge of the teaching career, I am more confident than ever about becoming a teacher. The best part about the NEA-SP is that by joining the organization, I am given the key to so many resources, so that when I have doubts or questions, I can depend on the NEA-SP to provide guidance and support."

Christina Cabrera
Albertson College of Idaho
Caldwell, Idaho

"The NEA Student Program gives us a voice on the national level and strengthens our leadership skills inside and outside the classroom. We learn how to become advocates for our student and our profession."

Rudy Ortiz
California State University-San Marcos
San Marcos, California

Membership

Membership, leadership, services, and opportunity. These are the keys to a strong NEA Student Program. Your membership and activism are vital to our success.

Be a Member
Why join the NEA Student Program? Ask any current or former NEA Student member--they'll be eager to tell you.

By joining NEA, you become part of the largest education organization in the nation, with more than 2.6 million people dedicated to America's children and schools.

Your involvement in NEA can help advance the cause of public education and open doors to exciting opportunities in public schools. Your voice can add greater dimension to the network of retired and active teachers working in today's classrooms and advocating for children.

As a NEA Student member, you also join a network of students dedicated to improving teacher education and supporting prospective teachers. You're also plugged into your NEA state affiliate and statewide leadership conferences, workshops, and public forums. Last year, the NEA Student Program launched a new initiative called Hook Up to promote even more cooperative relationships between Student Program locals on campus and nearby NEA affiliates, including retired and higher education members and education support professionals. As the program grows, we foresee greater access to experts in our fields, job information, and a better understanding of our profession and the Association.

Be A Leader
As a Student member, you have the chance to become a local, state, even national officer, and these roles are guaranteed to enrich your teaching and advocacy skills. Many NEA Student Program leaders go on to become leaders in their local and state Associations. And as a delegate to NEA's annual Representative Assembly, you get a sense of what it's like to be a national leader as well.

To help you, the Student Program offers a variety of materials to help you in your leadership role. Make it Happen: Teach--a Handbook for Local Leaders will guide you as you organize chapters, conduct meetings, and plan effective workshops. The Student Program offers grants through SOAR (Student Organizing Assistance Resources) to help you build a strong NEA presence on your campus.

On a national level, you are eligible to run for NEA Student Program chair, NEA Board of Directors, and the NEA Resolutions Committee. The Student Chair appoints a Student Advisory Committee.

You have a chance to serve on one of the many NEA committees that cover everything from human rights to legislation and membership. For information, contact the NEA Student Program Office, 1201 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 822-7130.

Be a Community Activist
NEA Student members are very creative when it comes to community partnerships, and it's not just the children who receive the benefits from the service projects. From after-school care to reading programs to intergenerational events, these community outreach programs give students valuable learning experiences and the chance to be leaders on their campus and in their community.

Participate in NEA's Read Across America children's literacy campaign and other outreach projects with the help of a CLASS (Community Learning for America's SchoolS) grant up to $1,000. So what are you waiting for?

2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: Letter from Student Program Chair

Do you know how special you are?

You are about to embark on a career that will be full of rewards and tough times. The public has entrusted in your care the education of future generations. It is a humbling responsibility, but I know that you are prepared for the challenges. You've worked hard to get where you are today.

As you cross the threshold into the proverbial little red schoolhouse, you will bring new ideas, new pedagogy, and a fresh approach to our diverse nation. Just by you being you, you will encourage vital change to your school. If you need to sound out ideas, the NEA Student Program is here for you.

The ties that bind us to our parent organization, the National Education Association, became stronger last year through a new initiative called Hook Up. The initiative promotes development of cooperative relationships between student program locals on campus and nearby NEA affiliates, as well as retired, education support professionals, and higher education members. We are excited by the opportunity to gain access to local affiliates' professional development, financial support, conference support, office equipment, and so much more. The Hook Up program provides access to experts in our fields, valuable information about jobs, and a greater understanding about our profession and the Association.

From reaching out into the community with local affiliates for NEA's Read Across America literacy program to simply taking advantage of an affiliate's capacity to publish and mail your Student newsletter--the Hook Up program is a win-win proposition for all involved. So, what are you waiting for? The experience will prepare you for a new world waiting for you outside the familiar confines of campus life.

Christie Morrison
NEA Student Program Chair

2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: Pay It Forward

Could Community Outreach Be Your Best Teacher?

Teacher education in its traditional form focuses primarily on methods and materials, lesson plans, human behavior, and student teaching. Education reform analysts are now singing the praises of service-learning through community outreach. Another flavor-of-the-month in education reform? Or have researchers hit on the lesson of a lifetime for teachers and students alike?

When Tessa Brown, a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, learned that 40 million adults in America were functionally illiterate, she knew she had to do something to help.

"I was shocked to learn that more than 20 percent of the population can't read," says Brown, an avid reader herself. "I knew if I could do something to instill a love of reading in young children, I could help curb that figure in years to come."

So Brown, former president of the Illinois Education Association Student Program at John A. Logan College, developed "Reading Connection," a program that has been bringing books to low-income children and their parents for three years.

Funded through an NEA CLASS grant, Brown takes a classroom of children--many who have never seen the inside of a bookstore or been read to out loud--to a local Barnes & Noble every year to choose two books: one for their classroom library and one to take home. Parents and family members also participate.

The program has taught her a powerful lesson about community: "One simple act for others can transform the lives of countless people," she says. "These children have been affected for life. It's a pay-it-forward concept," says Brown, referring to the movie Pay It Forward, which revolves around the concept of passing on good deeds. "I've experienced the benefits of being involved and now there's nothing I want more than to share that with my own students one day. It's about hands reaching out and connecting with one another to form a chain of service."

Like Tessa, Student members across the country--from California to Connecticut--are helping themselves become better teachers by rolling up their sleeves and addressing real community needs through hands-on engagement.

"Participating in outreach activities during college truly taught me what it means to be going into a profession of service and compassion," says Stefanie Shumaker, a first-year teacher in Mitchell, South Dakota. "This realization and personal growth isn't something you can learn by sitting in a classroom behind a desk all day."

In 2001, Shumaker recruited more than 150 education students from across the state to help rebuild rural Plankinton Public School that had been destroyed by a propane fire. Using a CLASS grant from the NEA Student Program to help fund the efforts of the event--dubbed "Pitching in at Plankinton"--the future teachers installed bookshelves in classrooms, built a walkway to the playground and moved equipment to a new play area.

"We kept getting praise from the Plankinton teachers and community, but little did they know that we received much more of a gift than what we gave to them," says the former president of the South Dakota Education Association-Student Program. "Our lives were touched and changed forever that day. We pulled together and made a difference, which is what teaching is really about."

Education experts agree. According to research, preservice teachers who complete community service projects develop a greater commitment to teaching than those who don't. Experts have also found that education students who take time for community projects have a great deal of success in their own teaching experience, especially in planning activities and communicating with parents.

Shumaker agrees: "When I walked into my own classroom to start teaching, I felt very prepared," she says. "I knew that if I could plan a statewide event, I could do just about anything."

More than 225 teacher education programs across the country use service learning as an integral part of their curriculum in order to create a curriculum that is relevant to the "real world." Research also suggests that beginning teachers who participate in service learning during college use community outreach as a pedagogy with their own students.

Melissa Skinner, chair of the Illinois Education Association-Student Program, believes even simple outreach gestures can make an impact. Recently she and other Student members sent letters of support to teachers in New York City and Washington, D.C., who were affected by the tragedies of September 11.

"Even if only one person is touched by our act, it's one person more than before," says Skinner, an Illinois State University junior. "And we're better people because of it. There's nothing like that warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you've done something good for someone else."

Shumaker adds: "By reaching out beyond my own classroom door, I've gained new insights into my students and my community. Now, instead of just saying that I care, my students and their parents know I do."

Fast Facts

A Quick Study At the California State University, more than 135,000 students performed a total of 33.6 million hours of community service in 2000. Of those who have taken service-learning courses, 65 percent indicated the courses helped them master the subject matter more than traditional courses. Also, 70 percent said service-learning courses developed civic awareness and responsibility better. Finally, 69 percent reported that service-learning helps them explore career options more than they would normally be able to. To accommodate all those interested in service learning, the university has added an additional 220 service-learning courses across the campuses for the 2001-02 academic year.

Experiential Teaching Builds Bonds Project Genesis, a community service collaboration between the California State University in San Bernardino and the Ontario-Montclair School District, reported that 99 percent of undergraduates recruited to teach at local schools for undergraduate credit and assigned mentors for their first two years are still teaching--of which 97 percent are at their original school.

Community/Service Learning on the Rise A 1999 National Student Service Learning and Community Service Survey found that 64 percent of public schools, including 83 percent of high schools, had students participating in community service activities recognized or arranged by the school and 83 percent of schools with service learning offered some type of support to teachers interested in integrating service learning into the curriculum, with most providing support for service-learning training.

Civic Responsibility While examining the impact of service learning among preservice teachers, a SUNY-Oeneota College study done in 2001 found that when a psychology course was split, with 27 students having to write two papers for the course and the other 16 doing a service-learning project at a local elementary school, the group that did the service-learning project had a higher mean course grade and greater civic responsibility.

Outreach Tips

Don't know where to start? These tips can get you going.

Apply for an NEA Student Program "CLASS Grant" (See box on previous page for more information).

Work with children in need in community agencies such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Neighborhood Centers, or Head Start.

Approach a local English as Second Language teacher about tutoring her students and their parents before or after school.

Offer to provide "day care" during parent-teacher conferences at a local elementary school.

Start small: Coordinate a letter-writing campaign to soldiers, plant a school garden, help coordinate a high school literacy corps.

For more ideas: www.nea.org/futureteachers/outreachideas.html and www.ehhs.cmich.edu/ins/serv/enrich

What's an NEA Class Grant?

CLASS--Community Learning for America's SchoolS--is The NEA Student Program's answer to two of today's most vital needs: the need to build community support for public education and the need to deal with critical educational and social problems facing our communities. The NEA Student Program will provide up to $1,000 to chapters who help launch a CLASS project in their community. For more information, call Malcolm Staples at (202) 822-7123 or e-mail him at mstaples@nea.org.

A Lesson in Service

Student Wisconsin Education Association Council members provide after-school care for community's "latchkey" children

Students at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point (UWSP) wanted to do something special for the community, but they weren't sure what. So they reached out to a local school and realized they had the power to do something big.

"The education students at that time discovered that many elementary students were 'latchkey kids' who would go home to an empty house everyday after school," says senior Katie Krebsbach. "So our Student Association took the lead in tackling the problem by starting an after-school program for them."

More than 1,600 children from Jefferson Elementary School have benefited from the Student Wisconsin Education Association-Stevens Point "Latchkey Program" since it was founded 10 years ago.

Free to K-4 students who are on free and reduced lunch, the program offers a structured environment for Jefferson students who would otherwise have nowhere to go or be left alone at home after school.

Latchkey--which received the NEA outstanding CLASS Project this year from NEA's Student Program--is run completely by Student Association members on a volunteer basis. These "teachers" plan lessons, age-appropriate games, playground activities, art projects, and learning opportunities for more than 40 children per semester.

They also work directly with Jefferson's principal and teachers to offer extra help and tutoring to the students who need it most. "We teach the students from 3:30 to 5:15 every day," says Krebsbach, this year's co-coordinator for the Latchkey program. "It's extremely hands-on and educational for us to know that we're responsible for making sure these children have a safe place to hang out and learn after school."

In addition, she says, Latchkey is providing "real-world" experience for her and other future teachers because more than half of the children involved are English as Second Language students.

"Through Latchkey, we're able to put the lessons we're learning in school about diversity into practice right away," she says. "It's invaluable experience that will enable us to reach more students once we have our own classrooms after graduation."

Krebsbach says the program is also providing a priceless service to parents and the community.

"Parents know their children are in safe hands," she says of the program, which has a waiting list to get in. "It's also exposing the kids to a lot of things in our community they wouldn't be a part of otherwise."

Just this year, Krebsbach and the other Latchkey teachers invited a humane society employee to teach the young students about pet care, an elderly resident to talk about the history of their town, and local high school cheerleaders to teach them how to dance.

The Student members have also spent time reaching out to local businesses and civic organizations, which have provided Latchkey with art and educational supplies, a computer, and small grants to keep the funding adequate.

The program attracted many politicians, and in 2000 the state recognized it as a "model" site for an after-school program pilot. "We're providing a safe haven for Jefferson students, peace of mind for the parents, and a reason for local businesses to be involved with the school," says Krebsbach. "It also gives us a place to learn how to teach, which is ultimately the best teacher." For more: E-mail swea@uwsp.edu.

Ask the Experts

Malcolm Staples

Malcolm Staples has worked as an organizational specialist for the NEA Student Program for more than four years. But his involvement with student issues extends back more than 15 years, to time spent as an UniServ Director for the Virginia Education Association. Below, Staples explains why both Student members and new teachers should seek out opportunities to become engaged in community activities. (To contact, see box on page two.)

Why are community partnerships so important?
As educators, we can't see teaching in isolation of community issues. Being involved with your school's community is a main ingredient to successful education. I've talked with many new teachers who tell me that it feels like they are doing well in their new teaching jobs, but perhaps not "well enough." Nine times out of ten, the missing link turns out to be the fact that they haven't taken the time to establish relationships with anyone outside of the school. When teachers understand and are part of a child's community, they can fully understand where that child comes from. A teacher's role is to educate, but in order to do that to the highest level, he must understand where a child starts and where she ends. That understanding doesn't come from a teacher college or classroom setting. It comes from hands-on involvement outside the classroom door.

So it's okay if education students wait until they start teaching to get involved with community service?
It's a personal choice, but my best advice to any future teacher is to start now. Most professors in teacher education programs talk about simulated experiences and use history and data to talk about community service activities. But that doesn't help future teachers grasp the actual practice. When they can get involved in community activities at the college level, they have a better appreciation for what it means to be community-service oriented when they start teaching. Prospective teachers may not understand fully what it means to work in schools that have minimal resources or a challenged environment. But when they reach out to such schools while in college, they will have a better understanding for what it means to educate kids in communities other than their own.

What is NEA doing to help foster community partnerships?
Over the last few years, community service has become part of the Association's core and is now being integrated into professional issues like classroom management and testing. Even our professional conferences are being retooled to integrate community service components into the issues discussed. At the Student member level, education students have the opportunity to be part of our "Outreach to Teach" event, which occurs every summer during the NEA Representative Assembly. They can also apply for CLASS grants, which provide up to $1,000 to fund community projects at the local level.

Can you give advice to students who want to participate in meaningful community outreach experiences through their local chapters?
Consider doing more than just a one-shot event if possible. That means starting with something small and establishing relationships with a school, a district, or local community organizations to grow it into something bigger. Experience has taught us that if a chapter approaches a local school without a specific plan and says 'what can we do to help?,' not much gets done. But if a chapter does some work identifying a void that needs to be filled before approaching a school, and then offers specific ways to help, the work becomes about the needs of the school rather than the needs of the chapter. This is also when the chapter will want to seek out community partners to support their efforts and make it sustainable. There are so many community-based organizations that care about their local schools. Future teachers should involve them whenever possible. Finally, student leaders should apply for NEA grants to help fund their efforts.

In the Real World

"There's nothing more true than that old saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child.' In most communities, it's the parents and grandparents, the places of worship, and the businesses that want more than anything for their children to succeed. As teachers, we have a personal obligation to do everything in our power to partner with these people who care most for our students. You don't close your door and walk away when the school day is done. For a teacher, it's never done."

Books to Use

Service-Learning in Teacher Education: Enhancing the Growth of New Teachers, Their Students, and Communities
Jeffrey Anderson, Ed.; Kevin Swick, Ed., (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education), $20
This book provides teacher educators, administrators, practicing teachers who work with preservice teachers, policymakers, and researchers with information on the conceptual, research, and application areas of service learning in preservice teacher education. The collection of papers offers teacher educators' thoughts about ways to enhance the usefulness of service learning in preservice teacher preparation.

Service Learning and Character Education: Walking the Talk. Linking Learning with Life
Kevin Swick, Larry Winecoff, Ben Nesbit, Richard Kemper, Michael Rowls, Nancy Freeman, Nena Creech, Laura Brinker Kent (The National Dropout Prevention Center), $6
This guidebook is designed to provide teachers, schools, parents, and other community leaders with the needed ideas, strategies, and resources to combine service learning and character education in meaningful educational activities for children and young people.

Learning With the Community: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Teacher Education
Edward Zlotkowski, Series Editor; Joseph A. Erickson and Jeffrey B. Anderson, Ed. (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction), $28.50
Leading practitioners and scholars of service learning and teacher education explore theoretical and empirical support for the use of service learning as an approach to instruction. Fourteen teacher education models from a variety of institution types are offered, plus an annotated bibliography of readings for instructors and students.

Tales That Teach: Children's Literature and Service Learning. Linking Learning with Life
Carol G. Weatherford (The National Dropout Prevention Center), $6
This guide takes illustrated children's literature into the world of service learning and suggests how teachers can enhance students' service learning experiences with children's literature. Weatherford describes the power of children's literature, from womb to tomb--how stories affect readers or listeners at various ages.

Books to Peruse

A School of Our Own; Parents, Power, and Community at the East Harlem Block Schools
Tom Roderick (Teachers College Press), $21.95
Described as essential reading for educators, parents, and community organizers, A School of Our Own tells the story of a group of Puerto Rican women who created strong block schools and became key players in daycare reform. Activist Tom Roderick gives a dramatic account of how "housewives" empowered themselves to provide a first-rate learning experience for their children and build a community that enabled many adults to transform their lives.

The Community Teacher; A Framework for Effective Urban Teaching
Peter C. Murrell, Jr. (Teachers College Press), $23.95
Associate Professor Peter Murrell presents a new system of practice for urban teacher preparation. Through case studies, Murrell illustrates how professional development of urban teachers can foster new communities of learning, embrace diversity, and prepare teachers for collaborative and community partnerships. His model of the "community teacher" goes beyond subjects taught to embrace the communities where the youth live.

Writing To Make a Difference: Classroom Projects for Community Change
Chris Benson, Scott Christian, Dixie Goswami, and Walter H. Gooch, Editors (Teachers College Press), $21.95
Writing To Make a Difference provides teachers with intriguing ideas to help students become truly engaged in their writing, and at the same time strengthen ties between the school and the community. The "process-model" of writing instruction gets students involved in action research and writing about issues that are important to them and their communities.

Learning from Experience: A Collection of Service-Learning Projects Linking Academic Standards to Curriculum
Barbara Babcock, Ed. (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction), $30
Babcock details how service-learning projects that combine community service with student learning in a practical way enhance academic knowledge and improve community environments. Students connect learning to their world and achieve better grades.

Resources

Outreach to Teach
This NEA Student program event brings together educators, support professionals, and preservice teachers from across the country to "clean up" a local school in the host city for NEA's annual Representative Assembly. Past sites were Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Orlando, Chicago, and Dallas in 2002. For more: www.nea.org/futureteachers/outreachideas.html

U.S. Department of Education - Expanding Federal Work-Study and Community Service Opportunities
This site outlines how campuses benefit from community service, what is required in the federal work-study program, how to make service learning part of a work study program, and how to implement and market a service-learning program on campus. For more: www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/pubs/WorkStudy

The Rural Clearinghouse for Lifelong Education and Development
Provides links to online service learning articles and related resources. For more: http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~rcled/ publications/sl/sl.html

Communications for a Sustainable Future
University of Colorado, Boulder
Includes searchable higher education service-learning listserv discussions; definitions and descriptions; job opportunities; conference calendar; guide to university programs, courses, and syllabi; organizations, publications, and other resources; and benefits of service learning. For more: http://csf.Colorado.edu/sl/main.html

Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL)
COOL aims to educate and mobilize college students to strengthen the nation through community service, and foster civic and social responsibility for a just society. Site includes information on conferences, projects, FAQs, and links to related organizations. For more: www.cool2serve.org

Corporation for National and Community Service
A national group that matches talented, motivated people with opportunities to serve their community and the nation. For more: www.cns.gov/joining/index.html

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC), ETR Associates
The Clearinghouse collects and disseminates information and materials related to service learning for Learn and Serve America grantees and other programs involved in service learning. The Clearinghouse also operates a variety of listservs for discussion and information on service learning, a Web site and information database, a toll-free information phone line, and maintains a collection of publications on service learning. For more: www.servicelearning.org/index.html

Ask ERIC
A personalized Internet-based service providing education information to teachers, librarians, counselors, administrators, parents, and others throughout the United States and the world. Ask ERIC's main components are a question and answer service, an online virtual library, and access to search the ERIC database. For more: http://ericir.syr.edu and www.ericsp.org/pages/digests/slate.htm and www.ericsp.org/pages/digests/services_learning_97-1.html

DailyApples.com
A new Web site designed specifically to motivate teachers with inspirational quotes, freebies, humor and an interactive bulletin board. For more: www.dailyapples.com

American Association of University Women Educational Foundation
School and Community Projects for Women and Girls ShareNet Database lists projects, Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowships, and Community Action Grants. Designed by teachers, community activists, AAUW members, schools, and community groups, the fellowships and grants advance education and equity for women and girls. Many projects focus on improving girls' interest and achievement in math, science, and technology. For more: www.aauw.org/5000/commun.html

Campus Compact National Center for Community College
The organization serves as a national advocate for community colleges in service learning and assists organizations with the promotion and implementation of community service. The Web site provides staff information, announcements of award winners, links to related organizations and schools, full text and ordering information of its publications, and information on its conferences and projects. For more: www.mc.maricopa.edu/academic/compact

The National Service-Learning Exchange
This Web site supports high-quality service-learning programs in schools, colleges and universities, and community organizations. The Exchange provides the "people connection" while the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse gathers and disseminates information and materials. For more: www.nslexchange.org

Organizations

Council of Chief State School Officers
The Council works with state education agencies to help produce a network of peer consultants to improve and expand the quality of service learning. Through local technical assistance to teachers and school administrators, service learning is incorporated into education reform efforts. The Council also sponsors a corps of youth peer consultants who encourage other youths to engage in service learning and to provide adults with a youth perspective about the function of service in education.

National Dropout Prevention Center
E-mail: ndpc@clemson.edu The National Dropout Prevention Center has been involved in service learning--researching and promoting it as an effective strategy--for almost ten years. The Center is currently involved with five service-learning projects as partners in collaboratives throughout the United States.

The American Association for Higher Education
E-mail: info@aahe.org
The AAHE Service Learning Project is dedicated to the integration of service learning across the disciplines. The project offers a resource series for faculty wishing to explore community based learning. Through its monograph series and coalition-building meetings, AAHE aims to ultimately strengthen the educational infrastructure supporting service learning in higher education.

Close Up Foundation
The Close Up Foundation houses the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. The Foundation coordinates information with six national organizations, such as Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and connects the Clearinghouse with national social studies and civic organizations.

National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE)
NSEE is a national resource center that promotes experienced-based approaches to teaching and learning. The Web site includes background information on the organization, membership information, and ordering options for its publications.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ASCD is an education organization that focuses on learning and complex problem solving and influences practice and policy through services and professional development. ASCD accomplishes these goals through affiliate activities, networks, student chapters, alliances, and strategic partnerships.

University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is responsible for conducting needs assessments of higher education programs and for producing studies, monographs, and symposia on important issues dealing with service learning and higher education.

University of Massachusetts Office of Community Service Learning
E-mail: servelearn@acad.umass.edu
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst serves as the Regional Information Center for the northeast section of the country, providing information about service-learning programs in that area. The Center also provides teacher education and service-learning information.

Teach for America
Teach for America is a national teacher corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors and cultural backgrounds who commit two years to teach in under-resourced urban and rural public schools.

Vanderbilt University
The Office of Volunteer Activities Community Partnership House
The Office develops campus-community partnerships to benefit the community while leading students toward lifelong civic involvement and commitment. Staff advise volunteer organizations that actively promote social awareness and continuing engagement. The Office draws on both academic and community resources to promote the knowledge and values of social awareness, personal respect, justice, freedom, and equality. The University is conducting a search of literature dealing with service learning and higher education.

Association for Experiential Education
The Association develops and promotes experiential education through professional development, theoretical advancement, and evaluation of experiential education worldwide.

Institute for Global Education and Service Learning
The Institute creates service-learning programs and initiates activity-based education in collaboration with schools and organizations around the world. I*EARN, the International Education and Resource Network is a global community of youth, teachers, and youth service leaders committed to using telecommunications to make a meaningful difference in the world as part of the educational process.

National Youth Leadership Council
The Council's mission is to engage young people in their communities and schools through innovation in learning, service, leadership, and public policy through service learning. The Council seeks to build vital, just communities with young people. A prominent advocate of service learning and youth service, the Center is at the forefront of efforts to reform education and guide youth-oriented public policy.

2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: Letter from NEA President

Teaching in a Brave New World

The National Education Association's 2.7 million members welcome you to the noble profession of teaching! As you begin your new career, rest assured that our resources are available to you every step of the way. Whether you need professional development, mentoring, advocacy advice, or better salaries and working conditions, NEA will be there for you.

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 shook the nation and forced us all to reflect on our lives and our future. Indeed, college guidance counselors report students are shying away from business careers and are expressing an increased interest in public service--particularly in teaching. Many Americans are recognizing the emptiness of life in pursuit of the "bottom line" and, in contrast, the fulfillment of touching a child's life.

As a future educator, many challenges lay ahead of you. You may enter a classroom where more than a dozen languages are spoken, with numerous special need students, where school supplies are few or where many parents are uninvolved in their children's education process. Despite these hurdles, you are charged with educating America's most precious resource--our children. And I guarantee you will swell with pride when you see a child's face light up with delight upon learning new concepts.

By joining the NEA Student Program, you embark on a lifelong career of activism to improve student achievement and the education profession. From giving books to needy children to networking with seasoned veterans in our Outreach to Teach or Hook Up partnership initiative, your membership in the NEA Student Program will quickly become a major landmark in your professional life.

I look forward to meeting and working with you.

Bob Chase
NEA President

2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: Help Wanted: Minority Teachers

Not only are America's schools experiencing a shortage of teachers, the growth of ethnic and minority student enrollment is creating a critical need for minority teachers to provide positive role models for the students. The stakes are high: inspiring a diverse student body to achieve, encouraging parental involvement, and retaining qualified minority teachers.

In We Can't Teach What We Don't Know, author Gary Howard declares, "Diversity is not a choice, but our responses to it certainly are." The nation's K-12 students are seeing an ever-increasing mix of races among their peers, yet they are still taught mostly by all-white teachers.

According to U.S. Department of Commerce data, more than one-third of students in today's public schools are people of color. By the year 2025, at least half will be. Meanwhile, only 13 percent of their teachers are minority. More than 40 percent of schools across America have no teachers of color on staff.

"As educators, we have to prepare our students, both minority and majority, to live and work in an increasingly diverse society," says LaShay Roberts, a graduate student at California's Sonoma State University and president of the Student California Teachers Association. "How can we do that if teachers aren't representative of their own students?"

Justina Wilson, a new teacher in Norfolk, Virginia, believes part of her success as a teacher comes from living in the same neighborhood and experiencing the same day-to-day events as her students."When they talk about the streets, I know what they're talking about," says the former classroom aide turned special education teacher. "I know what their life is like."

Though there's little hard evidence that being a member of a minority group in itself makes one a more effective teacher of minority students, some educators see important pedagogical reasons for ensuring that students encounter teachers of similar racial or ethnic backgrounds.

Research shows when teachers of color are missing, minority students land more frequently in special education classes, have higher absentee rates, and tend to be less involved in school activities.Other experts say a lack of minority teachers hampers staff's ability to relate to a diverse student body and boost parental involvement.

Roberts concurs: "I think teachers of color bring with them an inherent understanding of the backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences of students from certain groups."

Jooneiu Kim, a teacher of English as a Second Language in Ridgefield, New Jersey, also agrees. As the only Asian teacher in a district where the student body has a high Asian population, Kim has been asked to sit in on parent conferences and contact families on such touchy issues as skipping school. She has talked to sixth-graders about being an immigrant and has helped Korean students understand American culture."I feel very needed here," she says. "I think parents are really appreciative of knowing there's a Korean teacher here."

But attracting--and retaining--minority educators like Roberts and Kim is proving to be quite a challenge for both urban and suburban districts alike.

In the years ahead, many experts worry there won't be enough applicants of any race to meet the growing need for teachers due to rising student enrollment and rapid teacher retirements. A projected 2.7 million educators are needed over the next decade.

Additionally, the applicant pool is limited. Experts say low pay and status coupled with aggressive recruiting of minorities by business and industry eager to diversify their workforces deplete the potential pool of teachers, particularly minorities.

"There simply aren't enough candidates of color," Sharon Robinson, executive vice president for Educational Testing Service (ETS), told participants last fall at an NEA-sponsored national diversity conference. Because today's teaching force is 85 percent white and female, Robinson says, it is necessary to ensure that they are adept at teaching an increasingly diverse student population. She speculates that future teachers might have to demonstrate that ability to gain a license.

Still, most recruitment efforts involve scholarship or loan-forgiveness programs and seek to draw the best and brightest minority college students into traditional teacher-preparation programs. Some districts tap into local education support professionals or encourage students to consider education careers before they even get to college.

At George Mason University in Virginia, an NEA Student Organizing Assistance Resources (SOAR) grant is helping the university do precisely that (see box on previous page). For seven years, GMU has been hosting a "Celebration of Teaching" conference for high school students aspiring to become teachers. Over 300 students, of which 60 percent were minority, participated in workshops last year. "They realize that teaching is a true profession," says GMU's Professor Rebecca Fox, who coordinates the outreach efforts.

"Teachers of color can help instill a tolerance of others into tomorrow's leaders," adds Roberts. "All schools should reflect diversity because life is not all white."

What's an NEA SOAR Grant?

The NEA Student Program's SOAR grants can help. SOAR--Student Organizing Assistance Resources--provides grants to NEA student chapters for their efforts in membership recruitment and student chapter organizing, particularly with minority teacher recruitment. For more information: www.nea.org/futureteachers/apform.html

Fast Facts

Nation of Diversity
The U.S. Department of Education says that of the more than 50 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary schools this year, one in every five has a parent who was born in another country. The department is predicting that school enrollment--which continues to climb every year--will peak in 2005 at 53.5 million students.

More Teachers Needed
American schools will need to hire as many as 2.7 million new teachers by 2009 according to a report by the National Center on Education Statistics. Each year, over 150,000 teachers are hired just to meet the ongoing demands to replace teachers who retire or leave the profession. For more: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/qtrlywinter/3elem/ 3-esq14-g.html

The Five-Year Marker
A recent report by the Southern Regional Education Board estimates that nearly half of new teachers in the board's 16-state area leave teaching in the state where they started, or get out of teaching entirely, within five years. The report also says high-quality mentoring or induction programs for new teachers are among the best steps states can take to turn the trend around.

Gender Gap in College
According to reports issued by the U.S. Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics, men make up less than half of the national college/university population--just 44 percent. Government figures also show that in the last 20 years, the number of bachelor's degrees earned by women increased 77 percent, as compared with 19 percent with men.

Returning to their Roots
According to the South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment, the oldest and most established teacher recruitment program in the country: Students decide by age 14 what they do not want to be when they grow up and 52 percent of students decide on a career choice before they leave high school. Within the first five years of teaching, most teachers return to teach within 100 miles of where they lived as a child.

Diversity Tips

How can you prepare yourself to work with a diverse group of students? Try these tips.

Reflect on your own cultural background and seek to understand how your biases might affect your interactions with students.

Examine the backgrounds and needs of your students and seek to understand their cultural biases. Connect instruction to your students' backgrounds and scrutinize classroom materials for unconscious bias.

Give your students a chance to assert their differences. Make sure other voices and other cultures are included regularly.

Talk with your students about common myths and stereotypes, then seek to build a supportive classroom atmosphere where differences are celebrated.

Encourage your students to seek higher education, particularly teaching, and to volunteer and tutor in lower grades.

Invite diverse role models as guest speakers and involve parents in your classroom.

Seek out information on the Internet about multiculturalism and diversity. For ideas: www.cta.org/inside_cta/training/classroom_diversity.html

A Lesson in Today's Reality

Student-led conference helps prepare future teachers for diversity in education

"Most people think Mitchell, South Dakota is in the middle of nowhere," says Lori Johnson, a first-year teacher in this rural town that is home to Dakota Wesleyan University. "But we're still affected by diversity issues." That's why Johnson, along with senior Molly Peugh, brought the issue front and center last spring to future teachers across the state.

The duo and their South Dakota Education Association-Student Program (SDEA-SP) advisor, Sylvia Street, created "Diversity in Education: A Cross-Cultural Teaching Approach." The one-day event highlighted the need for more teachers in schools largely made up of minority students, and brought to light the critical necessity for more minority teachers.

Guest speakers included a Nebraska principal whose school has a high concentration of Latino children; an African American principal from Iowa; a Dakota Wesleyan alumna who now teaches on the Mexican border; and a former SDEA-SP leader who teaches in inner-city Omaha.

"All of the speakers have lived at least part of their lives in South Dakota, so they gave us a first-hand look into making the transition from small town to inner city, to working with children who don't speak English," says Johnson. "They brought with them a very vivid picture of today's reality."

More than 100 university students from around the state--as well as local high school students interested in teaching--attended and participated in workshops. The event was sponsored by an NEA Student Program Student Organizing Assistance Resources (SOAR) grant.

"Our goal was to increase awareness of the need for teachers in minority schools," she says. "But we also wanted to get the message across to our future teachers that they shouldn't expect their classrooms to be homogeneous--even in Mitchell."

Johnson says the conference inspired several education students to take a road-trip to Omaha to experience first-hand an inner-city classroom. Subsequently, all the students chose to look for jobs in an urban setting after graduation.

At Marshall University in West Virginia, minority educators are invited to the "Teacher Lecturer Program" so teacher candidates can view various perspectives about diversity and how to work effectively with diverse students.

"We're trying to put our teacher candidates in touch with educators from different cultures, countries, and ethnicities so that they may more readily recognize the diversity of the world outside West Virginia," says Jane McKee, associate dean for academic programs in the College of Education.

In fact, across the country, there are hundreds of programs focused on promoting diversity and excellence in teaching. These programs--which target students as young as middle school to seasoned business professionals--aim to attract people of color to choose teaching as a profession.

At University of Southern California, the "Latino Teacher Project" seeks to increase the number of Hispanics in the teaching profession by creating a career track for practicing Hispanic paraprofessionals. The project provides financial, social, and academic support and assistance to promising Latino paraeducators.

"America is a true melting pot of cultures and our classrooms are the best indicator of that," says Johnson. "The more we can do to recruit teachers of color and learn techniques for working with diverse students, the better our education system will get."

Ask the Experts

Segun Eubanks

Segun Eubanks is executive director of the Community Teachers Institute (www.communityteachers.org), a non-profit organization that provides services to support the identification and development of culturally connected educators for schools across America. He is on leave from NEA, where for three years he focused on the recruitment and retention of minority teachers. He also served as vice president for Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. Segun has spent more than ten years working to promote opportunity, access, and equity in America's education systems.

Why is the issue of diversity so important to educators?
Diversity and multiculturalism in American society is not something that we opt into and out of. In just a few years, the majority of students in America will be non-white. In order to help them see the full range of opportunities available to them as they make their way through school, we need teachers of color and different ethnic backgrounds to serve as role models. Many schools and neighborhoods remain segregated, yet our society as a whole is becoming more multi-cultural. With a diverse teacher workforce, these students learn early on how to thrive and cooperate in a multicultural environment.

School is the most diverse environment that many children will experience. Can having a diverse teaching force improve education?
I believe it can. Collectively, teachers at a school bring a full range of skills, perspectives, teaching styles, and characteristics to their classrooms. The more differences a child is exposed to, the better off he will be. Research tells us that how a teacher relates with her students is one of the critical factors to how a student learns. When a school has a diverse workforce, chances are each student will have one or more teachers who can directly impact that student; a teacher who knows how to inspire that child to succeed.

Why should future teachers embrace diversity?
Every teacher in training should recognize that no matter what their own cultural and economic backgrounds, hobbies or interests are, if they teach in American public schools --even in "affluent" neighborhoods--they will find children who immigrated from another country, who speak little English, and who have different economic and political experiences from themselves. Because our schools are getting more diverse, it's critically important that every teacher, no matter who they are or where they come from, develop the skills and cultural competencies necessary to connect with these kids.

Can you suggest some things new teachers can do to prepare themselves for teaching in diverse settings?
Take the time to develop the skills and knowledge that will help you respect and value the cultural differences your students bring with them every time they walk through the classroom door. There is a huge body of literature and knowledge out there on diversity and teaching to help you do that. It's also critical that you engage hands-on in diversity. If you haven't yet worked in a school where the majority of kids are on free and reduced lunch, or where there are a great deal of immigrant children, figure out how to do so. Volunteer your time if you have to. Having this experience will help you celebrate differences and share positive learning experiences with your students. It's a lesson you'll keep with you for life.

Should new teachers consider teaching in an underserved community?
Underserved or not, teachers will encounter intelligent children, overactive children, shy children, and tough children no matter where they teach. Finding success with these children in an underserved community is a great reward, but teachers shouldn't teach in this type of environment just because they feel sorry for the kids or want to be heroic. A lot of teachers think they can save these kids, but the truth is, they don't need to be saved. They need to learn how to read and write, and think for themselves. They need teachers who believe they can succeed, and inspire them to do so.

Books to Use

The Multicultural Resource Series: Professional Development Guide for Educators
Paul Gorski, Gene-Tey Shin, and Martha Green, Editors
NEA Professional Library (Stock no. 2005-7-00-PL, www.nea.org/books), $13.95
This book, the first in the Multicultural Resource Series, can help you develop creative ways to integrate multiculturalism into every curriculum, from science to literature. You'll learn from other educators how multicultural education has transformed their teaching. The guide provides a comprehensive listing of multicultural organizations, publications, national agencies, videos, Web sites, and more.

The Multicultural Resource Series: Resources for a Multicultural Classroom
Martha Green, Joyce Blakeley, Sybille Scott, Deborah Stuart, Gene-Tey Shin, and Paul Gorski, Editors
NEA Professional Library (Stock no.2012-X-00-PL, www.nea.org/books), $18.95
If you are ready to make celebrating diversity more than Taco Tuesdays, then open this book to any page for great ideas. This second volume in the Multicultural Resource Series contains annotated print, film, and electronic resource lists to help you plan K-12 programs that tie the strengths of diversity and inclusion with your prescribed curriculum.

The New IDEA Survival Guide
Sabrina Holcomb with Ed Admundson and Patti Ralabate
NEA Professional Library (Stock no. 2016-2-00-PL, www.nea.org/books), $5.95
If you are having trouble navigating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this is the book for you. The easy question-and-answer format leads you through a number of scenarios to address your most pressing concerns. You'll get practical advice on discipline, developing Individualized Education Programs, managing paperwork, getting training, and more.

Multiple Intelligences
Teacher-to-Teacher Series
(Stock no.2910-0-00-7, www.nea.org/books), $9.95
Traditionally schools have operated on the premise that if you ace math and reading, you're smart. Abilities in art, music, dance, or interpersonal relationships are not valued traits in the academic setting. The author's theory of multiple intelligences is slowly changing this notion.

Books to Peruse

Race and Culture in the Classroom; Teaching and Learning Through Multicultural Education
Mary Dilg (Teachers College Press), $17.95
White high school teacher Mary Dilg tackles issues of race and culture in her diverse classroom. Dilg shows how her teaching helps students discuss their racial identities in the context of larger issues--history, power, and politics. The students become their own educators through student essays and classroom conversations as opposed to simply accepting preexisting solutions.

The Color of Teaching
June A. Gordon (Routledge-Falmer Press), $27.99
The book is a collection of in-depth interviews with 200 teachers of color, including African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos. Interviewees express their attitudes toward teaching and their understanding of why students of color do not select teaching as a career.

We Can't Teach What We Don't Know; White Teachers, Multiracial Schools
Gary R. Howard (Multiculturalism Education Series), $20.95
Through the lens of 25 years of experience, extensive travels and collaboration with students and colleagues from many different cultures, white educator Gary Howard reflects on what it means to be culturally competent in a racially diverse school. The author shares lively stories and provides compelling analysis on how white people think about race. The book presents groundbreaking theoretical work on White identity and education in pluralistic societies.

Ethnographic Eyes: A Teacher's Guide to Classroom Observation
Carolyn Frank (Heinemann), $16
This book written by teacher Carolyn Frank demonstrates how "ethnography"--written descriptions of culture--can help teachers gain new understanding of diversity among their students.

The Inspiring Teacher: New Beginnings for the 21st Century
Robert A. Sullo (NEA Professional Library), (www.nea.org), $14.95
Inspiring teachers teach more than facts and subject matter. They teach a way of being in the world. The book is a valuable resource for teachers new to the profession and for experienced teachers who want to revitalize their classrooms. You'll find out about brain-based learning--the latest research on how we learn most easily and effectively. You'll get information on forming positive alliances with colleagues and parents and study skills on conflict resolution.

Resources

National Directory of Successful Strategies for the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Teachers
This NEA report was designed to help school districts attract more minority teachers. It also offers reasons why we are facing a minority teacher shortage and suggestions to some of the problems schools face in recruiting and retaining minority teachers.

Initiatives by Organizations
Part of the NEA report listed above summarizes more than 25 programs established by various organizations to provide incentives for minorities interested in teaching careers.

The Urban Teacher Challenge report
The Recruiting New Teachers' Web site posted a report that examines the nation's major urban school districts and found that almost 100 percent have an urgent need for teachers in at least one high-need subject area (special education, science, and math).

Rethinking Schools
The organization publishes an independent, quarterly newspaper and advocates for the reform of public schools. Their site is a great source of articles and books on teaching equity and social justice.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP) site provides a searchable database of college programs and grants to prepare students to become licensed special education professionals in a variety of occupations.

Pathways to Teaching Careers Program
The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund's Pathways to Teaching Careers Program is designed to increase the number of teachers--especially minorities--working in public schools. The nationwide program recruits teachers from various pools: paraprofessionals and noncertified teachers already working in schools, and other adults from nontraditional backgrounds such as returned Peace Corps volunteers. www.wallacefunds.org/publications/pub_teach/index.htm

Future Teacher newsletter
Published by Recruiting New Teachers, this newsletter focuses on recruiting, developing, and supporting a qualified and diverse teacher workforce.

Urban Teacher Academy Project
This site is designed to help school districts and schools, colleges, and departments of education learn about high school teaching programs that encourage high school students to consider careers in teaching.

Does Diversity Make a Difference?
The strong empirical evidence presented in this monograph, comprising three studies of college teachers' and students' attitudes toward and experiences with racial and ethnic diversity, demonstrate that campus diversity represents an education benefit for all students.

Respecting Ethnic and Cultural Heritage (REACH) Center
The Center provides curriculum and staff development programs focusing on multicultural and global education for schools across the nation.

The National Clearinghouse on Paraeducator Resources
This clearinghouse is committed to providing a comprehensive repository of information to attract talented paraeducators to teaching.

The Florida Fund for Minority Teachers
One of the largest initiatives specifically designed to draw minority candidates into teaching from community colleges. The $3 million fund has given loan assistance to more than 1,000 minority teachers since it began in 1996. Visit the site to find out if you are eligible.

National Conference on Teacher Quality - Exemplary Practices in Teacher Recruitment
Developed by the University of Southern California, a Latino and Language Minority Teacher project seeks to increase the number of Latinos and language minority teachers in the teaching profession. Prospective teachers are recruited from the ranks of paraeducators, and provided with financial, social, and academic support to complete the requirements needed to become credentialed bilingual teachers. The project involves not only universities, but also school districts, schools, and labor unions.

Organizations

NEA's Recruitment and Retention of Educators (RRE) Program
The program seeks to address the growing teacher shortage in America's public schools. Among the issues targeted are ethnic minority teacher shortages; teacher shortages in various subject areas; teacher shortages related to gender; and the retention of educators already in the teaching profession. The program establishes and maintains networks and collaborative activities with NEA affiliates and other organizations, conducts a national forum on the issue of educator recruitment and retention, disseminates information on initiatives, maintains a database with NEA affiliates and national and community organizations, and provides financial assistance to NEA local affiliates in their recruitment efforts.

Community Teachers Institute
This Institute supports the creation of partnerships among schools, higher learning institutions and community-based organizations to "home-grow" teachers rooted in communities of color. The Institute also provides professional development and technical assistance to current and future teachers.

Recruiting New Teachers
Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. (RNT) is a national non-profit organization that raises esteem for teaching, expands the pool of prospective teachers, and improves the nation's teacher recruitment and development policies and practices. One of RNT's primary goals is to expand America's pool of qualified and diverse teachers.

American Council on Education Office of Minorities in Higher Education
The Office provides information on the educational status of minorities, exemplary programs aimed at improving the campus climate for persons of color, and participation rates and degree attainment by ethnic minorities. The office also offers extensive assistance to colleges and universities seeking to improve their recruitment and retention of minority students, faculty, and administrators.

NEA Black Caucus High School Teacher Program
(847) 679-4042
The main goal of the NEA Black Caucus is to address the needs of Black American educators as well as the needs of all children, but particularly Black children. The Caucus is a watchdog for the Association, ensuring inclusivity in training, programs, and policies.

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
AACTE coordinates the activities of the Ford Foundation Minority Teacher Education Project which strives to recruit, retain, and graduate minorities in teacher education. Present programs focus on African American, Hispanic, and Native American students.

Future Educators of America
FEA seeks to interest students in the field of education and to recruit bright and talented students with diverse backgrounds into the teaching profession. Local chapters offer students the opportunity to explore teaching as a career option, provide them with a realistic understanding of teaching, and encourage students from diverse backgrounds to think seriously about the teaching profession. FEA encourages teachers to shape the future of the education profession and to examine, clarify, and explain their role in students' lives.

American Indian Higher Education Consortium
The mission of this unique--and uniquely American Indian--organization is to support the work of tribal colleges and the national movement for tribal self-determination. AIHEC promotes quality in American Indian education, supports the development of new tribally controlled colleges, advocates for American Indian higher education, and encourages greater participation by American Indians in the development of higher education policy.

National Association for Multicultural Education
The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) brings together individuals from all academic levels and disciplines and from diverse educational institutions, and other organizations, occupations, and communities who have an interest in multicultural education.

The Alliance for Equity in Higher Education
The Alliance promotes greater collaboration among colleges and universities that serve large numbers of students of color in order to enhance the nation's economic competitiveness, social stability, and cultural richness. The founding members of The Alliance include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).

National Alliance of Black School Educators
The nation's largest network of African American educators, NABSE seeks to promote the education of all students, especially those of African descent; establish a coalition of African American educators; improve opportunities for people of African descent; promote African American professionals to assume leadership positions in education; and influence public policy concerning the education of African Americans.

Latino Teacher Project
The University of Southern California sponsors the Latino Teacher Project to increase the number of Hispanics in the teaching profession by creating a career track for practicing Hispanic paraprofessionals. The project provides support and assistance, financially, socially, and academically, to promising Latino teacher paraeducators to enable them to complete a teacher education program.

2002 Tomorrow's Teachers: Call to Action

No excuses. When it comes to educational reform, who knows what works better than teachers? Don't let politicians and pundits presume to speak for you. Act now for our schools.

When the California state legislature mandated smaller class sizes in a landmark education bill a few years ago, NEA Student members like Sophia Monroy watched their job prospects and future brighten. "Smaller class sizes not only meant more manageable classrooms for teachers," says Monroy, a student at Cal State Long Beach. "They meant more job opportunities and better opportunities for students like me."

These days, however, those education reforms are being threatened. As school districts struggle to make their budgets, many of them are considering abandoning their commitment to smaller class sizes. At the same time, well-trained pre-professionals like Monroy have watched other districts hire unqualified individuals at an alarming rate, just to meet the mandate. What's a student to do?

"Organize," says Oklahoma member Donya Simer, who helped her state Association organize town hall meetings to talk about teacher shortages, salaries, and classroom conditions. "You can't get anyone to act on your behalf unless you're willing to do the same. And who will speak out for the children in our classrooms but us?"

Monroy agrees. "The reason I got involved in my Student California Teachers Association was to get a stronger voice in my future and the future of the children I will teach," says Monroy. "In my state I've watched what can happen to programs like bilingual education or affirmative action or services for migrant children when politicians have an idea of what they want to push through. On campus and in our communities, we're working to improve the schools for the sake of the children and teachers alike."

Why the push for political action? "Because student members need to see that politics and education do mix," says NEA Student Chair Christie Morrison. "Legislators are drafting laws on everything from class size to testing to teaching standards and we need to make sure we have a voice and a vote. Beginning teachers burn out in the first five years because they don't have the support system they need. We don't have to keep this status quo, we can make things better even at a local level. Student members are popping up on school boards, education committees, and Association leadership. One vote sometimes is all it takes."

What happens when educators speak out? "That's when real reform happens," says Morrison. "Mentoring programs for new teachers were created at the state level because educators called for this support system, class sizes were changed and teaching conditions improved, hiring incentives such as breaks on housing or forgivable loans or even bonuses, all occurred because we pointed politicians to these critical issues. But first we have to elect politicians who will listen."

In Kentucky student members are encouraged to become active leaders at all levels, particularly with an active teachers' association, says KEA-SP President Brooke Kees. "As Student members and leaders, we can make a difference. It's not all about running for office, it's about educating our own members about what's at stake." The Association also plays a key role in educating student members about education reform laws, rules and regulations regarding teacher certification and testing, and laws affecting classroom instruction, such as the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), adds Kees. Student members can attend workshops through their state association or read about key laws through their newsletters. They even learn how to lobby their legislator or member of Congress.

In Virginia, Student member Mikayla Rieff, likes the ultimate political route, working on local and gubernatorial campaigns and organizing roundtables at her university. "I'm a bit of a political junkie, but it's also because I believe it's taking a stand for children and educators. I don't want unfair standards or tests and I don't want unqualified teachers in the next classroom. I truly believe it's up to me." Rieff's actions paid off when her candidate, Mark Warner, won a tight gubernatorial race, on an education platform. "I'd like to think he won with my help. Now the children and educators will reap the rewards. You can be sure however, we'll be prepared to speak out if his commitment to education wavers."

"There's more to education than going to college and learning to teach the reading, writing, and 'rithmatics," adds Georgia student chair Gladys Purdy Lake. "Since I became a state leader I've seen that politics impacts every aspect of education from salaries to class size to the type of books and curriculum we teach our students. When we fail to realize that connection between politics and education, we miss an opportunity to make change happen.

"Legislators can't do the things we want them to do to improve public education unless we go ahead and tell them by lobbying, by voting, by taking a stand," says Lake. "The future of education and the opportunities that await our students and educators rests on our ability to make a difference."

Fast Facts

More Special Education Students Identified
According to Education Week magazine, schools nationwide have seen a significant increase in the number of students identified as having learning or behavioral disabilities. The number of students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities rose to more than 2.8 million in the 1998�1999 school year, up 1.6 million from a decade earlier.

Social Promotion Declining
Public Agenda, a respected non-partisan opinion polling firm, reports that the percentage of teachers who say their schools automatically promote students who have reached a maximum age has dropped from 41 percent to 31 percent over the last four years. In the study, 53 percent of teachers said they did not practice social promotion, while 31 percent said they did.

Iron Deficiency Linked to Low Test Scores
In a study suggesting that children should be screened for low-level iron deficiency, not just anemia, researchers have discovered that kids lacking the proper level of iron are more likely to post low test scores than are their healthier classmates. Three percent of school-age kids were iron-deficient during during 1988 to 1994, with adolescent females much more likely than their male counterparts to have an iron deficiency.

Unprepared Teachers?
Because of California's class size reduction legislation five years ago, the state has seen a sharp rise in the number of uncredentialed teachers. Today, more than 42,000 teachers who lack full credentials staff California classrooms, up from about 34,000 in 1997. Most of these new educators are teaching full-time during the day while earning their degrees and certification in "intern" programs at night and on weekends.

Aging Schools
The average public school in America is 42 years old. Twenty-eight percent of the public schools in America are over 50 years old.

Funding Shortage
A recently released National Education Association study reports that the current unmet need for school facilities nationwide is $322 billion--$268 billion for school infrastructure and $54 billion for education technology.

Action Tips

Looking for ways to get involved? Here are some tips to get you going.

Get involved in your campus chapter and state affiliate. Your leaders and advisors are your first line of contact and can help you gather information, coordinate events, and give information and organizing strategies.

Create an opportunity to voice concerns. Think about a roundtable, town hall meeting, information fair, even a coffee shop gathering. Invite local or state legislators to respond to your concerns.

Do your homework. If you're concerned about teacher salaries, for example, find out the latest research and don't forget to compare your state or district with others.

Don't forget the tried and true "Get out the Vote" campaign. MTV was successful because they struck a chord with disenchanted young voters. You can, too, now that politicians are talking tough about standards, testing, and certification.

Use the media for your message. Write a letter to the editor of your campus, local, and state newspapers or invite local reporters to your event. Be clear on your talking points and you'll make the news.

Remember that students have a strong stake in education-related laws and decisions. You have a right to speak out about decaying school buildings, crowded classrooms, and teacher quality.

A Student-Led Strategy Pays Off

Rather than watch their peers leave the state to teach, North Dakota's Student leaders decided to do something about it.

For years, Student members in North Dakota have gone to school in the state, done their student teaching in the state, and then promptly left the state upon graduation. "The reason was salaries," says Michael Thomas, chair of the Student North Dakota Education Association (SNDEA) and a student at the University of North Dakota. "We realized that if we didn't do anything about it, public education in our state would continue to suffer and the children would bear the brunt of it."

That's when Thomas, SNDEA Vice-President Cory Davidson, and board member Jeannie Johnson decided to plot their strategy to raise salaries and stop the brain drain from their state. While attending the state Association's lobby days, the students watched active teaching members talk to legislators effectively using statistics and anecdotes from their own classrooms. "We knew that simply saying salaries were too low was not going to mean much to the governor and legislators," explains Thomas. "We needed to back our position with solid information."

Thomas decided to develop a survey for every graduating education student in their state. The survey asked students why they would leave the state and what would help them stay. A letter went to more than 800 students and 73 percent of those students replied.

The results were not surprising to the students. "When we asked the students if a $1,500 raise would change their minds about leaving the state, only 10 percent of the respondents said they would stay," says Thomas. "But when we asked if $3,000 a year more would make a difference, about 65 percent of them said yes, they would change their minds and stay in the state."

Thomas, Davidson, and Johnson, presented their findings to the state Education Committee and lobbied their legislators. "We spent so much time going up to the Capitol, we felt like residents there. We spent 13 weekends in a row in Bismark," says Davidson. At a gubernatorial debate on campus the students asked candidates about the teacher salary issue and helped organize a student roundtable.

"We knew we couldn't leave anything to chance," says Thomas. "We decided to talk to the press as well and were quoted in three major papers, including a front-page quote the day after we presented the data to the Education committee." The students E-mailed their representatives, asking them to vote for a salary increase. "Nearly 500 members acted," says Thomas. "Cory Davidson personally lobbied his hometown legislator, who ended up switching his vote.

The result? Last April, the state legislature passed a $3,000 raise for beginning teachers, exactly what the students wanted. "Our lesson in this is simple, never give up," says Thomas. "Don't be intimidated by politicians, coordinate your actions like a team, and go in with great confidence. You may surprise yourself."

Ask the Experts

Pat Mogge

Pat Mogge is a former Student leader whose political activism has led to a career in politics. Mogge, former chair of the Illinois Student Education Association and member of the NEA Student Advisory Committee, became a governor's fellow, working out of the office of Deputy Governor of Education Hazel Louck. Dr. Louck was Illinois' Student program coordinator before her appointment by the governor. Mogge's current job is education policy advisor to Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan.

Why did you become politically involved?
It was always important to determine how actions at the state and federal level affect both the teacher and the child. I have a sister and brother-in-law who are teachers and we always talked about politics and education and how we play a role in making classroom conditions better. Add to this, the experience of working with Dr. Louck, first as an advisor and mentor, and then as a fellow in the governor's office, and I was hooked. It was fascinating to understand how the whole system worked and to meet the insiders of education policy.

What did you do as a fellow in the governor's office?
There was a cohort of 10 of us working with the governor's office. I was assigned to Dr. Louck. She educated me about state issues and the internal processes regarding state education policies. It was a valuable experience. I had the opportunity to help her draft legislation, work with agency heads, and provide input on the governor's education agenda.

How did this lead to a full-time job in the governor's office?
I had done so much work by then it was only natural that they offered me this job. I transitioned to a full-time education policy advisor. It's my role to look at all the Illinois school laws, remove duplicate laws, and make the laws easier for the public to read and understand. I also work with 40 commissioners on the school code and at the same time have the responsibility of supporting three key education commisions, the State Board of Education, the Illinois Community College Commission, and the Higher Education Commission.

What can Student members do to gain experience?
That's easy. Volunteer at political events and write letters to your legislators if you feel passionate about an issue. Every letter gets looked at by the governor and other legislators look to see who has written to them, particularly when they are teachers. Set up meetings with legislators or staff. You'll be surprised to find that a lot of staffers are the same age as you. Become another expert on education using your own experiences. When you talk, they'll listen. Don't be intimidated. You're their link to the outside world of education and they need to hear from you.

Books to Use

Taking Charge of Quality: How Teachers and Unions Can Revitalize Schools
Charles Taylor Kerchner, Julia K. Koppich, and Joseph G. Weeres (Jossey-Bass Publishers), $6.95
"Taking Charge" is a clear and concise booklet offering a solid blueprint for improving teaching and learning, setting higher standards, and taking charge of the profession through peer review. Learn about the role of teachers' unions and the need for politically active teachers to reform education in the 21st century.

An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform
Rebecca Herman, et al. (Educational Research Service), $12.95
A consumer-friendly analysis of 24 widely used programs designed to improve student achievement in low-performing schools. The Guide reviews research on popular schoolwide approaches and helps educators identify programs that work, evaluates programs' performance and capabilities based on evidence of increased student achievement, first-year costs, and assistance provided by the developers to schools that adopt their strategies. Some of the programs have been in existence for more than two decades.

Will Standards Save Public Education?
by Deborah Meier, Jonathan Kozol, Joshua Cohen (Editors) (Beacon Press), $12
While critics of standardized tests fault what they measure, Meier contests the very idea of a centralized authority that dictates how and what teachers teach. This, she argues, sets up a terrible model for students because it doesn't allow their teachers to emerge as thoughtful, accountable adults, seriously engaged with the dynamics of their own schools, classrooms, and communities. In turn, the students can't learn from them how to be thoughtful, accountable, creative adults and good citizens.

Becoming Good American Schools: The Struggle for Civic Virtue in Education Reform
Jeannie Oakes (Editor), Karen Hunter Quartz, Steve Ryan, Martin Lipton (Jossey-Bass Education Series), $30
This book tells the story how 15 schools in five states struggle to meet the often conflicting demands of individual diversity and society's collective needs. The authors envision the achievement of both equity and excellence in public education, and what teachers and other educators can do to make a difference.

Books to Peruse

Lessons of A Century
(Education Week), $24.95
In January 1999, Education Week began a year-long series chronicling the successes and setbacks of reform efforts over the past 100 years. Lessons of a Century appeared in 10 monthly installments. The series examines all aspects of the educational landscape--people, trends, historical milestones, enduring controversies --with an emphasis on their continuing relevance. Essays by leading scholars and other observers offer additional perspective.

Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?: Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education
Gary Orfield and Mindy Kornhaber (Eds.), (A Century Foundation Book), $24.95
More and more states require students to pass large-scale tests as a condition of promotion or graduation. What are the forces that have pushed high-stakes testing to the forefront of K-12 educational policy? Are such tests the best way to gauge educational attainment? This volume, commissioned by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, examines the economic and educational assumptions underlying the call for high-stakes tests.

The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools
by David C. Berliner, Bruce J. Biddle (Perseus Books), $17.50
Described as the best source of facts and analysis about what is going on in our schools, Berliner and Biddle document the social problems facing our schools and provide alternative reform strategies. The authors demonstrate that SAT scores are rising for many groups and investing in education produces greater student achievement. The book makes clear that the opponents of public education have manufactured a crisis, and the authors have effectively cut through the rhetoric to debunk anti-public school discrimination.

Educator's Job Search: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Positions in Education
by Martin Kimeldorf (NEA Professional Library), (www.nea.org), $10
Would you like to bypass the classified-ad sections and job-placement boards that most educators rely on and enter through the "side door" to more interesting job opportunities? This interactive guide gives you the skills to find your ideal job through exercises that help you identify and promote your strengths, write an impressive resume, master job interviews, and more.

Resources

National Education Association
NEA's Legislative Action Center (LAC) provides you with on-line tools to send E-mail messages on the education of America's children to Congress and State Legislators. Speak out for children and public education: Enter your ZIP Code and click "Go!" The LAC provides up-to-date information on issues affecting children and public education currently before Congress and background information on key legislative topics critical to children and public education.

Civil Rights Summer 2002
Civil Rights Summer (CRS) is a Fellowship designed for students who want to work for a socially just America. Spend a summer (one week at Harvard University, seven weeks in Washington, D.C.) honing your civil rights expertise and leadership skills to advance a civil rights agenda.

E-Activism
Sign petitions for issues that you are interested in at this site. You can get involved simply by putting your name into petitions to end hunger and other issues. This Web site also contains a message forum where you can post your thoughts on any of the issues you feel are important.

United States Student Association's Web site
USSA has been the official voice for students in the nation's capitol for over 50 years. Here you will find up-to-the-minute information about campaigns, legislative information, news from member campuses across the country, foundation project information, and conference updates.

First Government
This site is the only official U.S. Government portal to 47 million pages of government information, services, and online transactions. The site offers a powerful search engine that searches every word of every U.S. government document in a quarter of a second or less. Firstgov.gov also features a topical index, online transactions, links to state and local government, options to contact your government, and other tools.

Youth Vote
Check out the nation's largest non- partisan coalition working to increase the political involvement of 50 million Americans, 18�30 years old. The coalition consists of over 90 diverse national organizations representing hundreds of organizations and millions of young people.

League of Women Voters
A premier grassroots citizen organization, their site provides information on voting, civic participation, or current public policy issues. The interactive Web site provides you with the tools to get involved in the democratic process at the federal, state, and local levels.

Links for Labor Activists
This site is an online directory of links to different Labor sources including the latest news in unions and different movements. It also provides links to many labor unions and educational opportunities for those who are involved in labor movements.

Political Links
Political Links provides a listing of political sites available on the Internet sorted by country, with links to Parties, Organizations, Governments, and Media. This resource provides the latest in politics, not only in the United States, but all around the world.

Politics1.com
Politics1 and The Politics1 Report newsletter is a non-partisan public service to promote fully informed decision-making by the American electorate. Politics1 is one of the most popular political sites on the net.

Rock the Vote
The MTV Generation site is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and empowering young people to change their world. Education issues include class size, financial aid, school vouchers, segregation, affirmative action, ethnic studies, and student rights. Does your school have all the books, teachers, computers, and classes that you need? Knowledge is power.

Electronic Activist
The database contains contact information for U.S. senators and representatives, and some state legislatures. The site also contains a guide to activism, outlining some of the most effective strategies for organization.

LaborNet
The site seeks to build a democratic communication network for the labor movement. LaborNet's founders believe that the new communication technology must be put to use to revitalize and rebuild the labor movement.

Organizations

Advocates for Youth
The organization creates programs and advocates for policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates provides information, training, and strategic assistance to youth-serving organizations, policymakers, youth activists, and the media in the United States and the developing world.

American Association of University Women
The organization promotes education and equity for all women and girls. Through public policy efforts, programs, and diversity initiatives, AAUW advocates for gender equity.

American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU promotes civil liberties issues that the national and state ACLU are working on by urging letter campaigns to Congress, such as ending racial profiling or working with state affiliates on state initiative campaigns or projects.

Americans for Democratic Action
ADA is dedicated to individual liberty and building economic and social justice at home and abroad. Its New Leadership for Democratic Action program encourages students to become informed and active by bringing issues to their campuses.

American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations
AFL-CIO advocates for social and economic justice by enabling working people to have a voice on the job, in government, and in their communities. The AFL-CIO campaigns to help local school districts build, modernize, and repair public schools to reduce class sizes, enhance learning, and wire classrooms for 21st century technologies.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
The Campaign fights to free America's youth from tobacco and to create a healthier environment. It seeks to protect children from tobacco addiction and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Children's Defense Fund
The Fund advocates for children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF pays particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
The Coalition is an educational nonprofit dedicated to stopping gun violence by fostering effective community and national action.

The Council for Exceptional Children
The Council seeks to improve educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC lobbies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The NAACP protects and enhances the civil rights of African Americans and other minorities. Through its Youth Councils and College Division, the NAACP seeks to motivate and inform young people, develop organizational skills, and encourage participation.

National Association for the Education of Young Children
NAEYC is the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
NCADV seeks to end violence in the lives of women and children. It provides a national network for state coalitions and local programs serving battered women and their children, public policy at the national level, technical assistance, community awareness campaigns, general information, and referrals.

National Organization for Women
NOW is dedicated to making legal, political, social, and economic change in society in order to eliminate sexism and end all oppression.

The National Council of La Raza
Through programs and advocacy, NCLR's network of affiliates and other community-based organizations work to ensure that schools equitably serve Hispanic children and help them succeed academically.

Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families, and friends. It advocates an end to discrimination and to secure equal civil rights.

People For the American Way
PFAW fights for civil rights and Constitutional freedoms. Geared towards parents, teachers, clergy, pro-public education activists, its Education Activist Online provides information on education issues, right-wing attacks on public education, progressive grassroots responses, and action alerts.

Southern Poverty Law Center
The Center promotes tolerance in communities and encourages teachers and school administrators to subscribe to free Teaching Tolerance materials.