May 19, 2004
Education Week, Vol. 23, Issue 37
Law & Courts
Hearts and Minds
Parental choice, a strategy once used to help integrate schools through the creation of magnet schools and special programs, is now under fire for increasing racial separation. How does this issue play out in Milwaukee—the birthplace of the voucher movement?
Recruitment & Retention
Governors Study Teacher Quality
State leaders know they must lure the best teachers to the schools with the lowest test scores in order to spur major gains in student achievement.
Education
Report Points Out Lack of Clarity for High School Reforms
American high schools are ripe for change, but how to get there from here is far from clear, a report released last week points out.
School Climate & Safety
N.J. Principals Cite Unmet Facility Needs
While most New Jersey principals give decent grades to the conditions of their facilities, the lowest marks are most likely to come from principals in high-poverty districts, a survey has found.
Education
Colleges
Over the course of his 84-year life, Jack Kent Cooke worked his way up from door-to-door encyclopedia salesman to become one of the world’s best-known professional-sports and media moguls. The late owner of the Washington Redskins football team once compared his life to an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, only better.
School Choice & Charters
Scholar Advocates ‘Brand Name’ Charter School Networks
Changes in charter school regulations and funding formulas could make it more feasible for "brand name" networks of the independent public schools to expand, according to a paper commissioned by the Brookings Institution and discussed at an annual conference here last week.
Education
NASA Picks Three Teachers For Educator-Astronaut Roles
Three teachers from Florida, Maryland, and Washington state are among a new crop of 11 astronaut candidates announced by NASA this month.
Teacher Preparation
Accrediting Body for Teacher Prep Streamlines System
Instead of requiring mounds of paperwork to document how colleges of education are preparing the next generation of teachers and educational leaders, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education has approved a streamlined review system that is expected to bring more uniformity to the process.
Education
Report Roundup
- Resources Said Unequal 50 Years After Brown
- Vending Machines
- Teenage Pregnancy
- Global Goals
- Philanthropy Evaluation
- Educational Technology
- Parent-Teacher Divide
Teacher Preparation
Studies Suggest Science Education Neglected
Nearly a third of the nation’s elementary pupils are taught science less than three times a week, at a time when high school and college students’ interest in obtaining a college degree in the natural sciences or engineering is flagging, two reports reveal.
Curriculum
Exhibit at Smithsonian Features Brown Story, Battles for Civil Rights
As organizations across the country hosted events to mark the 50th anniversary this week of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Smithsonian Institution unveiled its own exhibit tracing how the historic U.S. Supreme Court case opened doors for minorities and fueled the civil rights movement.
As organizations across the country hosted events to mark the 50th anniversary this week of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Smithsonian Institution unveiled its own exhibit tracing how the historic U.S. Supreme Court case opened doors for minorities and fueled the civil rights movement.
Equity & Diversity
Poll of Teachers Finds Two-Tiered System
Teachers who serve large numbers of poor and minority students work in schools with more turnover, more unfilled teacher vacancies, lower levels of parent involvement, and fewer textbooks and other teaching materials than those who work in more affluent schools, according to a three-state survey released last week.
Teachers who serve large numbers of poor and minority students work in schools with more turnover, more unfilled teacher vacancies, lower levels of parent involvement, and fewer textbooks and other teaching materials than those who work in more affluent schools, according to a three-state survey released last week.
College & Workforce Readiness
Companies Step In to Fill Teenagers’ Guidance Needs
A growing number of private businesses across the country are offering college-counseling services to students and their families.
School Climate & Safety
Report Notes Impact Of Student Behavior
The threat of lawsuits and the behavior of small numbers of persistent troublemakers are interfering with classroom learning and driving teachers from the profession, a new report says. Includes a chart, "Teacher and Parent Opinions."
Education Funding
Teachers Facing Layoff Prospects
Despite signs that the nation’s economy is on the road to recovery, teachers across the country are still finding pink slips along with their paychecks.
Accountability
Evaluator Reverses Position On Degrees From Saint Regis
The continuing fallout from the Georgia "diploma mill" scandal, in which public school educators received advanced teaching credentials and pay raises using degrees from an online university, has led to reactions by several parties involved in the matter.
Education
Federal File
In an acknowledged bid to win over female voters, President Bush’s campaign team is touting his education record with the help of a woman who presumably knows his policies as well as anybody: his wife, Laura.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Justice Dept. Backs Teacher's Title IX Case
- House Lawmakers Seeking Inquiry on Head Start Official
School & District Management
Kansas Judge Orders State To Shut Schools
A Kansas judge has ordered the state to shut down its schools at the end of this school year rather than continue its unconstitutional system for financing them.
Federal
Backers, Foes Draw Battle Lines Over Mass. Charters
Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has vowed to defeat efforts to slow the growth of charter schools in his state, after House lawmakers there approved a one-year moratorium on the independently operated public schools.
Education
State Journal
Nomination Vetoed
Never underestimate the power of parents. That’s the lesson that Utah Gov. Olene S. Walker learned May 8, when she was effectively barred from running to keep her job.
Assessment
Schools Employing Online Talent Tests to Screen Prospects
Using the latest in technology, some district hiring experts and their partners in the private sector say they’ve found a quick and effective way to sort applicants for teaching jobs.
Student Well-Being
Alternative Proms Gain in Popularity
Seeking to provide safe havens or to accommodate different student interests, some groups are providing alternative proms for students based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
The cost to states for designing and administering high school exit exams is modest compared with the "rapidly escalating" costs school districts face as they try to raise student performance on the exams, concludes a report released last week.
Study: Improvement Costs
The cost to states for designing and administering high school exit exams is modest compared with the "rapidly escalating" costs school districts face as they try to raise student performance on the exams, concludes a report released last week.