For the first time since 2003, America’s fourth-graders failed to make any improvements in reading, according to a report released Wednesday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the “nation’s report card.”

For most of the past decade, elementary school students have made steady progress on reading, math, and other subjects, while eighth-graders and high-schoolers have shown more mixed performance. Between 2007 and 2009, it was the eighth-graders who made some slight gains, while fourth-grade scores were virtually unchanged.

Eighth graders’ reading scores have hovered between 262 and 264 since 2002, and have risen 4 points overall since 1992, the year that marks the beginning of this series of reading exams. Fourth graders’ scores, also, have risen 4 points since 1992, and since 2002 have stayed within 2 points of the average 2009 scores.

“What NAEP shows us over almost two decades is that in reading there have been only slight gains and no sustained trend of improvement,” Steven Paine, West Virginia’s commissioner of education and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP, said in a statement. He called the news “disappointing” given the “considerable amount of effort” devoted to improving reading.

Improvement in reading skills has been one of the main focus areas for states for more than a decade as they have built accountability systems aimed at raising student achievement.

At the federal level, the Reading Excellence Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, brought attention to the need for better reading instruction. The National Reading Panel’s 2000 report, which called for better approaches to boosting reading skills, was a key source in crafting the $6 billion Reading First program launched by President George W. Bush as part of his No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2002.

In spite of those efforts, however, Mr. Paine noted that the proportion of 8th graders scoring at or above “proficient” on NAEP has risen only 3 percentage points, to 32 percent, since 1992. NAEP sets student-achievement levels in three categories: “basic,” “proficient,” and “advanced.”

The lack of improvement in 4th grade reading between 2007 and 2009 is “especially disappointing,” Mr. Paine said, because it parallels the December report on NAEP mathematics at that grade level. The math results, however, showed far more growth over time in students’ progress than the new report shows in their reading progress, a difference Mr. Paine deems “striking.”

One reason for the difference, he said, could be that learning math is largely confined to math classrooms, and that the subject is taught in schools with cohesive, sequential curricula reflecting standards adopted by national math groups and echoed in textbooks. Reading comprehension, by contrast, is acquired across all courses, with “no similar cohesion or emphasis” on a clear reading curriculum, he said. Also, students’ reading-comprehension skills can be deeply influenced by what they do outside school, such as text-messaging.

ACS Students loans are “Affiliated Computer Service” which outsources subsidized loans by the federal government. These loans have been used to provide many educational institutions and federal loans such as Perkins loans. When applying for an ACS Student loan in essence you are applying for many other student loans. The process will be evaluated by your school’s education department. Then a letter will be sent to the applicant containing verification of the loan grant on how much you’ll be eligible for.

If you need more information you can visit your schools loan procedures on how to apply for an ACS Student loan. These sites should have all the instructions you need to fill out a federal student loan application form and repayment procedures.

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“What a lovely way to spend a Thursday night – good fun, great music and inspiring teacher!” – Mary M.

Dianne Davies has been teaching beginners to bellydance at East Runton Village Hall, Cromer, North Norfolk, for a year now. She recently started a class at Letheringsett Village Hall, Holt.  New beginners are always welcome, as she insists this is a beginners class, which means she finds different ways to go back to the basics of belly dancing all the time.  It is always possible to add further “layers” or challenges in the movements for those who have a little more dance experience, so the class can operate on a multilevel basis, but with the emphasis on new beginners.

Dianne has a vibrant, humorous style of teaching but is very serious about teaching correct technique.  She is keen to stress that although it is exhilarating and fun, belly dance involves muscle control and is much more than just shaking your booty!  Core muscles are developed along with co-ordination and gracefulness.  Good posture is stressed at all times and is one of the main benefits of bellydance, along with increased self-esteem and femininity.

Dianne’s classes are Wednesday at 7pm at Letheringsett, and Thursdays at 6.30pm at East Runton.   The belly dancing classes currently last one hour and fifteen minutes. Further details of Dianne’s belly dancing lessons are on her website.

Wear something comfortable to move in, and bring a scarf for your hips if you have one.  Bare feet or dance slippers is the norm.

Contact Dianne on freephone 0808 131 0134, or dianne@learnbellydancing.co.uk.

This live powerful one-hour webinar explores parental beliefs and values (the 90%) that could limit or reduce child behavior improvement. Unless these beliefs and values are identified and addressed, very little progress, if any, can be made to improve child misbehavior. In addition, this webinar explores factors to rule out before starting a behavior management program for children, factors that affect how we choose to raise children, how emotional problems affect child discipline, and what we should do if our beliefs and values are challenged when learning new skills.

Mark Lakewood, CEO of Building Strong Families National Seminars, parenting expert, author of the Sudden Compliance Program (an evidence-based parenting program for parents of strong-willed children), and distinguished professional speaker, is the presenter. Those who attend this webinar will receive as our gift the “Standing Up To Bullying” bullying prevention computer game for children.

To learn when this powerful webinar is scheduled and to pre-register to attend this webinar, those interested are asked to visit http://www.Top10ParentingMythsAndMisconceptions.info or phone us toll-free 800-777-0955.

Serving families, individuals, parents, couples, and professionals, Building Strong Families National Seminars facilitates powerful educational conferences, parenting webinars, and family-related products with topics geared toward strengthening, empowering, and enhancing the family, schools, and the community.

Hierarchy in Society:

Egyptian Society was divided into classes. On the top of the hierarchy was the Pharaoh, who was considered to be God and worshipped as such. All the land belonged to him and he was the rule maker. Then there was the class of Priests and Priestesses. This class enjoyed a very favorable position with the ruler as the ancient Egyptians were highly orthodox and religious and believed in a number of rituals and customs that only this class of people could perform. Not only, the religious work, the priest class also played the role of advisors to the Pharaoh. The next rung in the social ladder was occupied by the craftsmen and the merchants. Next in line were the farmers and peasants and last came the slaves. It is to be noted that wealth was concentrated in the upper three classes mainly. The peasants and slaves suffered a lot of hardships and poverty.

Status of Women:

The women in Egyptian Society enjoyed equal legal and economic rights. Women in that Society had the right to own, sell and buy property; they had the right to own slaves; they were equal contracting partners in a marriage or divorce; they could adopt children; they could take up legal matters with higher authorities. Women could also inherit property in ancient Egyptian Society.

Marriage:

Egyptians married for the purpose of extending their families and hence it was more of a social arrangement and this arrangement regulated property and its inheritance. The society accepted a couple to be married as soon as they started living together. There were no legal registrations of marriage.

Clothes, Fashion and Entertainment:

Ancient Egyptian society has always been known for its fashion and entertainment sense. Every civilization has its own dress codes and modes of entertainment, but perhaps none as vocal as that of the ancient Egyptian society. The paintings on the tomb walls in many tombs show that the people during that age were very sensitive to changing dressing styles. As the upper class adapted a new fashion, the lower classes followed pretty soon.

Entertainment during that period ranged from physical activities like hunting, wrestling, archery, fishing, etc. while there were a number of board games that were enjoyed by both men and women. Other forms of entertainment were dance and music. It has been suggested that in the society of the ancient Egyptians, professional dancers were engaged to entertain guests. Musical instruments were also much n vogue and preferred.

Thus it is evident that the ancient Egyptian Society was far more advanced than many other civilizations during and after its time.

Home schooling makes a one on one kinship between a teacher and a student. Inhomeschool surroundings, this kinship is a very close one. In a conventional schoolroom, it is always conceivable for a pupil to fly under the radar. If a pupil does not prepare for a class, it might be conceivable to get away with that undiscovered by the teacher. In homeschool surroundings, this isn’t conceivable.

The teacher recognises what the pupil is doing. Pupils in homeschool surroundings promptly learn that they’re answerable for their own learning and that they have an built-in part in the learning equation.

Since homeschoolers learn from an early age that their work is their obligation, they become more prudent scholars. Homeschoolers also learn that they’re a legitimate part of the learning procedure. In homeschool surroundings, queries a pupil can ask will all be answered. Chicagohomeschoolexpo.com is a website designed to assit you with homeschooling and full of information on their upcoming expo.