Back to school time is big business for retailers. National data shows businesses that sell clothing, electronics and school supplies can expect a spike in sales during August, the only time of year besides the holiday season that they will see a noticeable increase.

Idaho businesses will fall in line with national numbers, according to Don Holley, a professor of economics at Boise State University.

The good news for parents of young children is that while prices for gasoline and other consumer items have risen drastically in recent years, what they will pay for clothing and general school supplies has not.

Retailers will see their clothing sales rise about 25 percent over their monthly average in August. But the overall cost of clothing for consumers is down. Parents will pay about 2.2 percent less for children’s clothing and 3 percent less for shoes than last year, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While the cost of general school supplies — items like pencils, paper and crayons — is up slightly, parents aren ’t likely to feel the increase. Because competition among retailers is common, parents can expect to see sales and "super sales" for back-to-school items.

One recent ad offered 12-packs of pencils and report covers for a penny. A limit on how much a consumer can purchase is a signal that retailers don’t expect to make anything on the items, Holley said.

"The seasonality in sales tells you with the increased demand at this time of year for clothing and school supplies, that prices ought to go up," Holley said. "But retailers have discovered that they can’t afford to be out of the market. If one retailer offers discounts, the others must follow to stay competitive."

The news is not so good for parents who are sending a child off to college.

"Tuition and books have seen greater inflation in recent years than even medical care," Holley said. "They have gone up faster than most any other element of the Consumer Price Index."

For comparison, health-care costs have risen about 4 percent annually for the past 10 years. College tuition and fees have risen about 6.1 percent each year, and campus housing costs by about 5.2 percent annually. The Consumer Price Index has averaged about a 2.5 percent annual increase over the same 10-year period.

"Parents and college students are going to pay more than ever for a college education," Holley said.

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The State Board of Education recently mandated that all 10th grade students pass the Idaho Standards Achievement Tests (ISAT) in order to graduate. Though the ISAT is administered regularly from grades K-12, testing six subject areas, the new graduation requirement is intended to ensure that all students have a basic understanding of math, reading and language usage by the time they exit high school. Prior to senior year, students are expected to prove comprehension in each of the three areas by meeting a certain level of proficiency, as measured by the exams.

As a result of these new standards, have teachers changed the way they teach, and what should parents be doing in response?

According to Bruce Robbins, professor of English education at Boise State University, the implementation of high-stakes testing as a graduation requirement has absolutely changed how teachers teach. In fact, he said, "Anytime we have a high-stakes test created by policymakers, it is intended that teachers will teach to the test."

When that happens, he cautioned, problems are bound to arise, "when tests are poor quality and fail to test things that are most important and when teachers only teach to the test." Robbins maintained that it is simply not enough for teachers to mold their instruction to a standardized test.

With teachers changing the way they teach, parents need to adapt their roles as well. We all know that kids need plenty of sleep the night before and a healthy breakfast the morning of the test. Those recommendations will always hold true. More importantly, though, Robbins suggested that parents stay involved.

Specifically, parents need to "be vigilant that the tests are as high-quality as possible," he said. The most important thing is that parents determine whether or not the test is in the best interest of his or her child. Here are a few pointers from Robbins:

Walk into any public school these days, and you’re not likely to hear many of these phrases. What’s worse, what you do hear (and see) may make you cringe. Crude language, insolence, rude behavior and general disregard for classmates and teachers (including using cell phones, Blackberries and iPods during class) seem to be the order of the day.

This decline in civility has not gone unnoticed, and it’s not confined to the classroom. Incivility is showing up in the workplace, restaurants, entertainment venues and even the Senate floor. But its rise among young people is troubling because it sets a standard for future behavior.

In an earlier 2002 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, 79 percent said lack of respect and courtesy is a major problem, and 84 percent blamed parents — both for not teaching their children respect and for setting a bad example with their own behavior at parent-teacher conferences, sporting matches and other public events.

"Sometimes parents are over-involved and too demanding of their kids," said Cindy Clark, a nursing professor at Boise State University who has done extensive research on incivility in the classroom. As a result, more kids are growing up feeling like they can, and should, do whatever it takes to succeed.

Others have inherited an inflated sense of entitlement. Today’s students are very aware of their rights — the right to say, do and wear things that would not have been tolerated in recent generations. And a growing number of students, raised in a highly competitive environment, feel their parents pay teachers’ salaries, so they deserve A’s even if they haven’t earned them.

All of this adds up to trouble for teachers, as well as future employers and university professors who are seeing a rise in rude behavior.

But Clark says that parents and others can make a difference. "The No. 1 thing that came out of my study is role modeling," she said. Parents, teachers and other responsible adults need to set the example, and they need to make sure kids know what is and isn’t acceptable.

Clark recently helped set up two student chapters of SADD at area high schools. At one high school, teachers and administrators were highly visible during class changes, treated students civilly and set firm boundaries on behavior. As a result, students treated one another with respect. At another high school, staff members walked past groups of kids using loud, vulgar language, wearing inappropriate clothing and engaging in rude conduct, but never said a word.

"When the culture of a school is built on relationships that are respectful, there’s a higher level of civility among all members of that school," she said. Parents need to be "plugged in" to what is happening at their childrens’ schools.

"Build a relationship with your kids’ teachers and school counselors," she recommended. "E-mail them occasionally and check in to see how things are going. Parents need to be involved."

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While this may be the reality for many Idaho children, not every child heads to school ready to learn. Some kids go to school hungry. Others fall asleep in class because they stayed up late watching TV or caring for siblings while their parents worked multiple jobs. Some kids are behind from the moment they enter kindergarten because they haven’t had the same opportunities to read books or engage in creative activities as many of their peers.

In Idaho, 38 percent of children in public schools, or nearly 100,000 students, qualify for free or reduced meal programs based on low family income, according to statistics from the Idaho Department of Education. And the numbers of students who would qualify for these meal programs is almost certainly higher, since not all eligible students sign up, particularly as they get older.

But while children from disadvantaged backgrounds may face challenges in the classroom, many studies show they are capable of high achievement, said William Parrett, director of the Center for School Improvement at Boise State University. A key is for schools to incorporate strategies and practices that have been proven to work with underachieving kids of poverty.

Parrett is the co-author of "The Kids Left Behind: Catching up the Underachieving Children of Poverty," to be released in August by Solution Tree publishers, as well as a number of other well-received books on educating at-risk kids. "The Kids Left Behind," co-written with Boise State emeritus education professor Robert Barr, provides educators, parents, community members and public officials with specific research-based education strategies that have been proven to help these students succeed.

All families, regardless of income level, have a stake in helping all students learn, Parrett added, especially in light of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. The act requires states to set accountability standards for student performance and ties a school’s federal funds to adequate yearly progress by every student.

"No Child Left Behind draws a line in the sand. It says in effect that an education is a civil right for every American child," Parrett says. "We are the only country in the world that holds this standard, and it is revolutionizing how we approach education."

Here are just a few of the strategies Parrett and Barr describe in their new book:

• Recognize the challenges your school faces and seek help. While there is sometimes a tendency to hide a school’s problems, going public with the information can be critical to gaining community support to address the issue. For example, if assessment tests show some students are struggling with reading, recruit volunteers to read individually with students, and allocate more time during the school day to the subject.

• Develop programs to help students successfully make the transition from elementary school to junior high and then to high school. According to Parrett, research studies show that these are critical junctures where students drop out; helping students prepare for the changes ahead could encourage them to stay in school.

• Work with your school and community to organize summer programs for high-poverty children. This will ensure that underachieving children have opportunities to continue to learn and engage instead of spending too many hours watching TV.

• Connect schools with families through programs such as student-led conferences. Unlike the traditional parent-teacher conference, this approach allows students to take an active role in developing a portfolio and assessing what they have learned. Schools that have adopted this approach have seen parent participation in the conferences jump from 30-40 percent to nearly 100 percent. Students benefit by taking ownership for their own educational experience.

Every student, regardless of socioeconomic background, benefits from school practices that help underachieving and low-income students reach their potential, Parrett concluded. "Our public schools reflect the diversity of our nation. Providing opportunities for everyone to succeed strengthens our schools and communities."

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By Natalie Orgill

Boise State University Communications

Senior year of high school used to be a time to kick back, relax, and enjoy life. Not any more. Gone are the days when high school seniors breezed through their last year of school. On top of studying for ACT or SAT tests, choosing the right college, and passing a statewide exit exam, students have a new challenge: the senior project.

By Julie Hahn

Boise State University Communications

There are the ISATs, the ACTs, the Pre-SATs, the SATs, AP exams — while those acronyms may not strike fear into the hearts of parents, to students they all mean the same, nerve-wracking thing: test.

Transfer what you know. In order to retain information students need to move the information they’ve learned from their short-term memory to their long-term memory (that’s why cramming doesn’t work, Shaw said). Wills suggested that students devote 10-15 minutes of study per class per day so that the information is still fresh and clear. After class, students should rewrite their notes and highlight the most important ideas from the lecture or chapter they were studying. Writing a summary paragraph of the main ideas from class also will help. Finally, students should separate any ideas that still aren’t clear and seek out help to understand those concepts.

Make a group effort. Shaw and Wills highly recommend that students study in groups, which allows them to get the benefit of multiple perspectives. Studying in groups also forces students to verbalize what they’ve learned, which is essential to success. "If they can verbalize it in real-life language, they can learn it," Shaw said. Talking about it even works for subjects such as math, Shaw said, because if students can "talk math," they can learn math. Meeting with a group regularly also can help students stick to a study schedule.

Take the long view. Remember that material builds on material, Shaw said. Students need to make sure that they understand each concept as it is introduced, because most of those ideas probably will wind up on a test later. But the long view also applies to school in general, Shaw said. Students need to realize that each test they take creates a foundation for the next class and next test, and that each will help them reach the ultimate goal: graduation.

Get into the "oatmeal cozy zone." Wills recommends at least six hours of sleep the night before a big test, and said that it helps to go over class notes before heading to bed. Wills also suggests that students create what she calls the "oatmeal cozy zone" the morning of the test. Wills said that it’s incredibly important that students remember to eat the morning of a test. Her meal of choice is a bowl of oatmeal and berries (a Tufts University study published in 2005 showed that students who ate oatmeal rather than cereal performed better on tests).

At school, students should "really be in your own little zone," Wills said. It ’s important that students shut out chatter about what other people studied or didn’t study, because it can lead to anxiety. If possible, students should take along an iPod or headphones to drown out chatter. If it’s helpful, students should try deep breathing exercises or find another way to relax.

Take a deep breath and get started. Students should look at the entire test and set up a quick organizational strategy. How many pages does the test have? Is it multiple choice, essay, or both? Students need to read the instructions twice and make sure that they clarify any questions right away.

Getting stuck in one spot can ruin an entire test score, Shaw said, so it’s crucial that students answer what they know before tackling questions that require more time. If students are really confounded by a question, taking a look at the rest of the test may offer up clues that could help with the tricky area.

Damage control. Let’s be realistic: There will be times when, for whatever reason, students show up unprepared for a test. What’s a desperate student to do?

The first step is to get organized, Wills said. Find notes from the class and go over them to glean as much information as possible. Next, seek out the teacher and ask for help. Students can at least figure out if the test is multiple choice or essay, and the teacher may be able to give an idea of the areas the test will cover.

A painful test should be a lesson, Wills said. "Learn from the experience and remember the pain so that you don’t have to go through it again."

Boise State’s Academic Support Services offers tips that can be used by anyone, not just college students. The Study Skills Resource Center section of the Web site has links about everything from learning styles to test preparation to note-taking to anxiety. In addition, students can take free online courses in reading and note-taking through the Web site. To access the links and courses or to just learn more, visit http://tutoring.boisestate.edu.

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