NSDL Scout Reports for the Life Sciences and Physical Sciences
The eleventh issues of the first volumes of the Life Sciences Report and Physical Sciences Report are available. The Topic in Depth section of Life Sciences Report annotates sites on phytonutrients. The Physical Sciences Report's Topic in Depth section offers Web sites and comments about temperature.
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Every Door Closed: Barriers Facing Parents With Criminal Records [.pdf]
http://www.clasp.org/pubs/legalservices/Every_Door_Closed.pdf
Presented by the Center for Law and Social Policy, this recently released report examines the obstacles parents with criminal records face when trying to reintegrate into society. Many of the barriers described in the report are intended to reduce crime and enhance community living and security. However, according to the report, the effects have been counterproductive because they have made it difficult for parents with criminal records to avoid criminal activity due to the increasingly laborious reintegration process. In Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format, this report consists of an introduction with background information on parents with criminal records, along with six chapters -- employment, public benefits, housing, child welfare, student loans, and immigration. Each chapter contains stories of former offenders who have confronted barriers in each category. [MG]
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Review of Studies of the Economic Impact of the September 11, 2001, Terrorists Attacks on the World Trade Center [.pdf]
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-700R
A General Accounting Office (GAO) publication, this 40-page document identifies and assesses the studies of ten key reports from nine different organizations regarding the economic impact of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York City (NYC). The organizations included in this review are the NYC Office of the Comptroller, NY Governor and State Division of the Budget, NYC Partnership and Chamber of Commerce, Fiscal Policy Institute, NY State Senate Finance Committee, Milken Institute, NY State Assembly Ways and Means Committee, NYC Independent Budget Office, and the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. This document objectively explores the studies and estimations of each organization's report, and determines if they meet standard economic criteria for analyzing economic impacts. Overall, the review finds that the study by the NYC Partnership provided "the most comprehensive estimates." [MG]
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Data Dictionary for Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images for Trial Use [.pdf]
http://www.niso.org/standards/dsftu.html
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) in collaboration with the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) has recently released this data dictionary for trial use for the period June 1, 2002, through December 31, 2003. Thus, the Internet community can freely access, review, and implement the dictionary standards during the 18-month trial use period. This data dictionary presents a "comprehensive list of technical data elements relevant to the management of digital still images," and has been designed to "facilitate interoperability between systems, services, and software as well as to support the long-term management of and continuing access to digital image collections." Freely downloadable from the NISO Web site, this product is primarily for institutions and organizations engaged in digitizing visual materials from historical collections. [MG]
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Subprime Markets, the Role of GSEs, and Risk-Based Pricing [.pdf]
http://www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/subprime.html
Released in March 2002, this report by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) explores the subprime mortgage market by examining its lending practices and the role of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report describes potential effects of a larger GSE role in the subprime market and explores the impact of "risk-based pricing and automated underwriting systems" within the mortgage lending environment. Consisting of sixty-eight pages that include an executive summary along with eight sections, this report is downloadable in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. [MG]
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UN Atlas of the Oceans
http://www.oceansatlas.com/index.jsp
Not only a data base, but a knowledge bank as well, the UN Atlas of the Oceans provides extensive information on the world's oceans and seas, gathered by various national and international agencies, including the United Nations; NOAA; and HDNO, the Russian Head Department of Navigation and Oceanography. Featuring maps, images, statistics, and other factual information gathered on the oceans, the site offers a sea of compelling topics, among them uses of the oceans and waterways, recreation and tourism, transportation and telecommunications, human coastal settlements, and the exploration and exploitation of natural resources. Also contained within the site are a number of stand-alone but interrelated modules about the oceans: how they were formed, how they are changing, and their dynamics. Sure to please curious minds are the site's depth profiles and its presentations on earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. [WH]
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Coleccin Cisneros.org
http://www.coleccioncisneros.org/
Presented by Fundacin Cisneros (the Cisneros Foundation), the Coleccin Cisneros is a visual arts program that focuses on Latin American art, culture, education, and social concerns. Designed to increase awareness and understanding of Latin American art "in the context of Western art history," this online collection features 166 works and emphasizes abstract twentieth century art from Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. For art lovers and historians, this site also contains a timeline, maps, a study guide consisting of an index of artists and movements, a glossary of art terms, and translations of manifestos and essays. Available in low and high bandwidth versions, this site is accessible in three different languages -- English, Spanish, and Portuguese. [MG]
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Jump, Jim Crow, or Did Emancipation Make Any Difference?
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/~ljones/Jimcrow/index.html
Created by Lynn Jones, a librarian at UC Berkeley, this Web site is an American history teaching resource that provides basic information concerning the historical context of Jim Crow. Contained in the site is a glossary of terms that provides the definition, along with background information on the Emancipation Proclamation, the Freedmen's Bureau, Black Codes, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynchings. Equally important, this site also provides links to other history sites that feature slave narratives, as well as images of and songs about Jim Crow. Easily navigable, this site is valuable for teachers, students, and enthusiasts of African American studies and American history. [MG]
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Pablo Picasso's The Tragedy
http://www.nga.gov/feature/picasso/index.htm
The National Gallery of Art presents this Web site that reveals earlier works on the wooden supports and canvas of Picasso's painting The Tragedy, found during conservation treatments. Picasso said, "What comes out in the end is the result of the discarded finds." The artist often reworked his paintings, leaving clues on the surface to tip off viewers that another work might be covered up by the top layer of paint. For example, the texture of the surface paint of The Tragedy first indicated that there might be another painting beneath. Conservators found sketches from 1899 on the wooden supports of The Tragedy, and drawings and paintings on the canvas underneath the blues and greens of the finished 1903 picture -- in particular, a bullfight in reds and yellows done in 1901. In the last section of the site, a QuickTime movie summarizes the stages of the painting. [DS]
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Annotated List of 36 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers: Fiscal Year 2002
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf02317/start.htm
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) evolved primarily from research facilities designed to meet the special needs of World War II. Presented by the National Science Foundation, this Web site provides a current listing of 36 FFRDCs located in the US, along with descriptions. Users can view the master list, arranged by departments; or view the centers by "geographic location" or "categories of activity," with the latter consisting of three different sections -- research and development labs, study and analysis centers, and systems engineering and integration centers. Also included is a FFRDCs criteria list and a section on "Decertifications, Closures, Renaming, and Other Notes Associated with FFRDCs" between 1968-2001. [MG]
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Centennial Celebration
http://www.census.gov/mso/www/centennial/index.html
This year, the Bureau of the Census celebrates a century of service to the nation and its inhabitants. Loaded with historical facts and figures, the site offers archival material from the bureau and other agencies that have documented its activities over the years. Naturally, the site features a factual historical overview of the Census Bureau, but beyond that, there is much more. The site makes available various other perspectives of its history and functions against the backdrop of a growing nation. Arguably one of the best sources of such information rests in the data gleaned by the census takers, or enumerators -- basic information that details how our ancestors lived, and where. Contained in the site's repository of Census Artifacts, this extensive source of testimonies tells as much about the census takers and makers as it does about those it counted. Also worth the visit is the site's image bank, which includes photos of enumerators over the past century, as well as of the instruments that helped them do their work -- the first vacuum tube computers, UNIVAC and FOSDIC. Visitors are also advised to stop by the Centennial Quilt, a story in itself. [WH]
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Bridging the Watershed
http://www.bridgingthewatershed.org/
Bridging the Watershed is a partnership between Washington DC area schools and the National Park Service that uses the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds as "learning laboratories." The Students section of this site has some great interactive activities that help students learn how to identify plants and ecosystems, determine stream health based on macroinvertebrate identification, and understand the perils of migratory fish. This is a great Web site with a broad range of information suitable to a variety of different age levels and interests, yet with enough detail to make each section stand alone. This site is also reviewed in the June 14, 2002 NSDL Life Sciences Report. [AL]
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Test the Nation: The National IQ Test
http://www.bbc.co.uk/testthenation/index.shtml
Who is the weakest link? Or, rather, just how many are there? And where do they come from? Test the Nation, Britain's largest mass IQ test set about to answer those questions and more on May 11th of this year. Administered online to some 90,000 residents of the UK (and still available for those who missed out), the test put visitors through the usual rigors of intelligence testing. The Test the Nation Web site discloses how the nation did as a whole, with further breakdowns by region, age, and other variables. Curious, the map of Britain's intelligence, as determined by the test, clearly demonstrates that the South far outdid the North where brute IQ is concerned. Whether one accepts such results or not, the site provides much food for thought, discussion and, almost certainly, an argument or two. Presented by the BBC, the site doesn't stop with simple presentations on the national IQ test, but also offers other interesting studies and reports, with subjects probing various areas of intelligence testing and all that has been made of it. A short list of some of the titles presented include: What sex is your brain?, Birth weight and intelligence, and The Language of the brain. To round off it offerings, the site also links to MENSA. [WH]
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Astro-Venture [Flash, Shockwave]
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/astroventure/
Astro-Venture, by NASA's educational Web site NASA Quest, is a wonderfully done interactive multimedia activity for students in grades 5-8. Consisting of nine modules, the activity takes participants through the process of training for and building a planet with the necessary characteristics for human habitation. They learn the astronomy, geology, atmospheric science, and biology needed to complete individual missions and ultimately build a planet. Students will enjoy spending the time needed to complete the sensory rich activities and learn a tremendous amount along the way. This site is also reviewed in the June 14, 2002 NSDL Physical Science Report.
[JAB]
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LookWAYup: Translating Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Search Tool
http://lookwayup.com/free/default.htm
LookWAYup is a dictionary, thesaurus, and translation search tool that allows users to look up and/or search words and phrases on its Web page or the Internet using search engines. Available in English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese, this service is free to persons and organizations that have fewer than 25 potential users and that carry out less than an average of 1,000 lookups per day. For interested persons, LookWAYup works on Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera version 4 and above on Windows, Unix, and Mac. [MG]
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Jamsoft: PocketCounter 0.98
http://www.vtoy.fi/~malo/pocket.html
PocketCounter 0.98, a Jamsoft product, is an online counter/timer device that uses a special timing engine to achieve sub-second (1/100 second) measuring accuracy. The timing engine is designed for a PocketPC-platform and maintains accuracy with low processor loads. The counter has clear and easily readable font; offers standard counting operations such as start, stop, pause, reset, and elapsed and lap times; and can export timelist to an ASCII-file. Best of all, this tool is free and can be downloaded from the Jamsoft home page. [MG]
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Annual Report on Teacher Quality Released at the Evaluation Conference in D.C.
Paige Releases Report to Congress that Calls for Overhaul of State Teacher Certification Systems
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/06-2002/06112002.html
Teacher Certification System Changes Urged
http://www.msnbc.com/news/765196.asp
Education Secretary Paige Addresses First Annual Teacher Quality Evaluation Conference
http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/06-2002/061102.html
Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge: The Secretary's Annual Report on Teacher Quality [.pdf]
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/News/teacherprep/AnnualReport.pdf
No Child Left Behind
http://www.NoChildLeftBehind.gov/
Title II Home Page
http://www.title2.org/
In a speech at the first annual Teacher Quality Evaluation Conference (recently held in Washington, DC), US Secretary of Education Rod Paige urged all states to radically alter their teacher certification programs by increasing the standards and decreasing the barriers that currently keep many qualified candidates from pursing teaching careers. Paige's speech was based on results of the 78-page report to Congress entitled Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge: The Secretary's Annual Report on Teacher Quality. Released Tuesday, June 11, 2002, this document is the first annual report to Congress on the state of teacher quality nationwide, as required by Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1998. The report is based on responses from state reports on teacher quality submitted to the Department of Education, and includes comprehensive data, by state, on certification and license requirements; statewide pass rates on assessments of 1999-2000 graduates preparation programs; number of teachers on waivers or emergency/temporary permits; teacher standards and their alignment with student standards; and state criteria for identifying low-performing schools of education.
Like the No Child Left Behind Act, the Secretary's report elicits higher teacher standards in order to enhance the educational process. The report proposes that states require prospective teachers to pass rigorous exams in the subjects they plan to teach. "Research shows that teachers with strong academic backgrounds in specific content areas are more likely to boost the academic performance of their students in those subjects." To lower barriers, the report calls on states and institutions of higher learning to reshape their teacher preparation programs by eliminating some of their rigid certification requirements, such as the massive number of pedagogical courses required. For more information concerning the teacher quality evaluation conference, users may access the first two links above. For a copy of Paige's remarks at the conference and a copy of the report, viewers may access links three and four, respectively. Finally, the fifth link leads to the No Child Left Behind Web site, and the last link opens the Title II home page, which features state reports and other state materials. [MG]
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