Stimulus. Omnibus. Budget Request. The White House, federal agencies, lawmakers and the Appropriations Committees staff have been working nonstop in recent weeks to produce these three spending proposals that have left the education community chasing paper, seeking explanations, timelines and expressing gratitude, although sometimes they haven't been exactly sure why.

The stimulus package, or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), has been law for almost two weeks now, educators and advocates want to know when their schools will see real dollars. The Department of Education is busily deciding how and when it will, or has to, distribute funds. Some of the decisions are governed by existing formulas and legislation. Others are not. Of particular interest is the $5 billion "Race to the Top Fund" the secretary of education will have at his discretion to encourage reform and innovation. It has been reported that the department will issue a request for proposals for these funds in the spring, with award distribution in the fall. Department leadership is working hard and has asked for patience from the field.

Related to other federal funding, the House passed the $410 billion FY 2009 Omnibus spending bill, a bill funding almost all of the federal agencies for the remainder of FY 2009, which began Oct. 1, 2008. A continuing resolution funding federal operations expires March 6. The House passed the FY 2009 Omnibus by a vote of 245-178, with 16 Republicans voting yes and 20 Democrats saying no. The Senate is expected to approve the bill this week.

The Omnibus includes approximately $600 million in new funding for Title I and special education, a $65 million boost over last year's funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) with more than $1.6 billion more for Head Start and $50 million in additional funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This is in addition to the supplemental funding many of these programs will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

To round out the trifecta of spending proposals, President Obama sent the outline of his first proposed budget to Congress on Feb. 26. The FY 2010 budget request was short on detail but does provide insight into his funding priorities. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlined the education spending portion of the bill in a conference call later that day and said the proposal's goal is to move the United States to number one in the world of the percentage of citizens with college degrees. The proposal focuses on investments that improve college readiness, retention and affordability, with significant investments in federal student aid programs. Duncan also discussed the need for strong K-12 standards in every state to improve college readiness and student achievement.

Duncan also warned that ineffective programs will not be funded in the detailed budget proposal to be released this spring. Echoing President Obama's call to "end the era of irresponsibility," he said difficult decisions are ahead.

On Feb, 25, the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy hosted a webcast to release the new 2008 Brown Center Report on American education. As explained by Tom Loveless, Brown Center senior fellow, this report examines the use of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as a benchmark for U.S. schools when assessing K-12 student performance at the international level. Recently, organizations such as the National Governors Association have been pushing for states to use PISA to benchmark for their students' performance. In the report, Loveless strongly cautions against this, asserting that PISA itself requires significant reform. According to Loveless, PISA contains an ideological bias - assessing students' ability to apply what they have learned vs. content retention. The assessment also asks students whether they support several environmental policies and uses students' responses to develop "an index of responsibility for sustainable development," ultimately providing an evaluation of students' political beliefs in their application of scientific knowledge.

However, Loveless explained the PISA could be reorganized to work as an effective assessment for benchmarking, provided that certain flaws were corrected. Loveless cautioned that to use PISA as an assessment for benchmarking, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the organization that administers PISA, should focus on routinely "scrubbing" PISA for ideological and political bias. Loveless also encourages OECD to include more researchers and nongovernmental representatives in OSA design and administration. According to Loveless, benchmarking can be an effective tool for assessing and improving student achievement; however, the tools used for benchmarking must first be carefully assessed to ensure they exclude any political and ideological bias and only assess students on their performance in a subject.

ARRA Resources and Guidance Web Sites: The Department of Education is building on its resources and guidance Web sites to help navigate the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Additional AARA information will be posted as it becomes available. Currently, the site offers the press release, a more detailed fact sheet and links to budget information, including state-by-state allocations for formula-based programs, as well as a brief "video statement" by Secretary Arne Duncan. The site also provides more information about the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and School Modernization support. In addition, the Recovery.gov Web site is live. The mission of this site is three-fold: education (explain the ARRA), transparency (show how, when, and where ARRA money is spent) and accountability (furnish data that will allow citizens to evaluate the act's progress and provide feedback). More guidance is expected next week, and the sites will be updated as necessary.

Solis Confirmed as Labor Secretary: By a vote of 80-17, the Senate confirmed Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as President Obama's Labor secretary on Feb, 24. Her confirmation had been delayed due to Republican concerns about her pro-union positions on some issues and questions about her husband's taxes. She has pledged to increase oversight of wage and hour laws, worker safety regulations and rules covering overtime pay and pay discrimination.

Common Core Hosts Discussion on the Role of 21st-Century Skills in the Curriculum: On Feb. 24, Common Core, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving liberal arts education, hosted a panel discussion titled, "What is the Proper Role of Skills in the Curriculum? A Critique of the Idea of 21st-Century Skills." Dr. Diane Ravitch, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, began the dialogue by asserting that the discussion around the need for 21st-century skills is "more of the same" in education. She detailed similar efforts from the previous two centuries that, in her view, represented the ongoing effort by schools of education to "break out of the shackles of curriculum." Her primary criticism of the 21st-Century Skills model is that it separates skills and content, a fundamental flaw that ignores the fact that an individual cannot think critically without significant knowledge. Building on Ravitch's remarks, Daniel Willingham, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, went on to refute the notion that skills learned in one domain can transfer to another like "all-purpose muscles." In his view, "effective" people gain 21st-century skills because they have a wide domain of knowledge. More info.

MetLife Releases Teacher Survey Results: On Feb. 25, MetLife released its 25th annual Survey of the American Teacher at a luncheon event hosted by the Committee for Economic Development at the National Press Club. After a quarter century of survey results, this year's study looks back to the earliest data to examine how the perspectives of teachers, principals and students have changed over the past 25 years. Since 1984, MetLife has conducted this research as a public service to bring "the voices of those closest to the classroom to the attention of education leaders and the public." According to the 2008 survey, today's teachers feel more satisfied in their careers, more respected and better prepared than teachers in the past. They also view academic standards and curriculum as stronger and students as better prepared. In addition, teachers report that their relationships with students and parents have improved. Notably, survey results show that parent and community support for schools has increased since the initial survey was taken. Some of the less positive news from the study reveals that some long-standing challenges have increased such as "a lack of student facility in English, the mixture of student learning abilities in the classroom and poverty." In addition, urban schools have made less progress, and educators still do not utilize technology to its full potential. While pointing out that there is still much work to do toward improving education for all students, especially in closing the gap between urban schools and their suburban counterparts, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated, "This year's [survey] gives us much to celebrate with respect to how teachers feel about the future of their profession." Access the survey with full notes on methodology and data.

AEE Hosts Briefing on Successful Small High Schools: On Feb. 25, the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) hosted a briefing on the topic of successful small high schools. Specifically, the forum focused on San Diego Public Schools and the success it's had breaking three comprehensive high schools into 14 small schools. Libia Gil, senior fellow at the American Institutes of Research (AIR), noted that for the past five years AIR has studied San Diego's efforts to create successful small schools and documented the work. With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, AIR has served as an intermediary, assisting the schools in their transformational work. Gil noted the basic elements of successful schools as personalization, a rigorous curriculum, engaging pedagogy and providing choice for students. The San Diego high schools featured, according to Gil, exemplify the importance of these factors. Gil provided the data that verified the success of these schools in improving student academic performance. In response to her own question - what key practices are common and unique to the small high schools represented today? - Gil's response was as follows: 1) skilled and visionary leaders who operate with a sense of urgency, 2) development and continuous professional support for the teaching staff and 3) a realization that small schools are not "mini-comprehensive schools." Ash Vasudera, deputy director of the School Redesign Network at Stanford University, served as a respondent to the briefing. He stated that other countries now surpass the United States in student achievement, graduation rates and college attendance, and it is imperative that the nation address the consequences of not providing all students the same kind of education the students in San Diego's small high schools enjoy. More info.

House Education and Labor Committee Holds Hearing on WIA: On Feb, 26, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness held a hearing titled, "New Innovations and Best Practices Under the Workforce Investment Act." This was the second in a series of hearings to examine innovative strategies for improving job training and education for America's workers as it works toward reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), subcommittee chairman, opened the hearing by noting that with each day the task to renew WIA grows more urgent. He stated, "There are many examples of innovation and best practices across the country where job training, education and support services have been integrated into a system of career pathways that has enabled workers to complete secondary school, learn English and earn a postsecondary credential, facilitating their entry into higher-skilled, higher-paying jobs. We need to build on those successes." Kevin Smith, executive director of New York Literacy Inc., said the current economic conditions and America's supply of adequately skilled workers does not meet its demand. "It is essential to consider what skills are available versus those needed to support and sustain national, state and local economic development strategies. As the nation succeeds in building an economic recovery, including job creation, the skills gap will impede progress." Several witnesses also discussed the need for improved coordination at the local, state and national level to meet the growing need for a well-trained, 21st-century workforce. Read witness testimony.

CAP Examines State Policies Supportive of Alternative Certification Programs: The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently held a briefing to discuss its report, "Realizing the Promise: How State Policy Can Support Alternative Certification Programs," by Robin Chait and Michelle McLaughlin. It is largely accepted in education policymaking and research circles that efforts to improve student learning will not be successful without increasing the supply of effective teachers, particularly in high-poverty and low-performing schools. Many argue that alternative certification programs are a promising strategy for addressing that need. Of course, policymakers must agree and intervene to maximize this strategy. According to supporters of alternative certification programs, policies ensuring these programs are able to attract and retain talented participants and provide them with high-quality preparation programs are required. Alternative certification programs have proliferated in recent years. According to data from the National Center for Education Information, more than half of current programs have been established in the last 15 years. In 2008, all states and the District of Columbia had some type of alternate route to teacher certification. Still, states frequently do not have policies in place to develop and expand strong alternative certification programs. The CAP paper analyzes the policies needed and puts them into three categories: minimizing participant burden, ensuring program quality and encouraging innovation and growth. More info.

AYPF Holds Briefing On Expanded Learning Opportunities: On Feb. 20, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) held the first briefing in its new series on the effectiveness of expanded learning opportunities. The event showcased the success of the Children's Aid Society (CAS), which is both the largest and oldest social-welfare agency for children and families in New York City. CAS partners with local public schools and community-based organizations to offer a comprehensive approach to meet the needs of low-income children and families. A recent three-year longitudinal study of six CAS community middle schools shows that CAS after-school programs, all of which are supported by 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, have a significant impact on student achievement and positive youth development. Children who participated in the after-school programs demonstrated increased academic achievement in reading and math, improved interpersonal relationships with peers and increased school attendance and engagement. Helene Clark, director of ActKnowledge, believes the program's success is correlated with the fact that CAS incorporates after-school programs into the broader community schools strategy and maintains a commitment to program quality. More info