September 1, 2004
Education Week, Vol. 24, Issue 1
Education
Correction
An item in the People in the News column in the July 28, 2004, issue of Education Week misspelled the name of Debra L. Laidley, a co-director of the National School Reform Faculty in Bloomington, Ind.
School Choice & Charters
TABLE: Charter vs. Noncharter Performance
This chart compares scores of regular public school students with those of charter school students on the 4th and 8th grade reading and math tests of the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Professional Development
Urban Odyssey
An inner-city expedition run by Outward Bound helps teachers examine their beliefs and biases.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- Judge Orders Increase for Baltimore Schools
- Pennsylvania School District Loses Round in Fight Over AYP Label
- N.Y.C. Slashes the Number of 3rd Graders Held Back
- Detroit Governance Question Prompts Immediate Lawsuit
- Most Florida Schools Open Despite Hurricane Damage
- Snapshots
- Deaths
Federal
Table: Fatter Paychecks
Department of Education employees received more than $5.7 million in bonuses in the 2003 calendar year. The amounts ranged from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands for some employees. Below are the top 10 bonus recipients last year.
Education
Lying Down on the Job
While some students might dream of seeing their teacher lying on a bed of sharp nails, a Florida high school teacher volunteered for what might seem like that torture to demonstrate a scientific principle.
Education
Colleges
Rising Tuition Costs Seen as Threat
The rising costs of college tuition combined with a reduction in state and federal funding could threaten the prospects of aspiring college students, particularly those from low-income families, concludes a recent report released by the Lumina Foundation for Education.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
Ohio Court Renews Charter Lawsuit; N.H. Governor Proposes Kindergarten Vouchers; N.J. Governor Resigns; Championed Early Literacy; Denver School to Become First State-Converted Charter;Teacher-Evaluation Plan Unlikely to Fly in Delaware; Snapshots
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- NCES Studying Dropout Counts
- Study: Big Jump Since 1990 in Federal Education Support
Federal
Campaign Notebook
- Coalition Seeks to Put Education on Agenda for Election Season
- Colorado School Administrator Falls Short in U.S. Senate Bid
Federal
Paige Steps Into GOP Convention Spotlight
As Republicans prepared for their party’s convention in New York City this week, Secretary of Education Rod Paige was scheduled for a prime-time speaking slot to talk up President Bush’s signature education accomplishment.
Education
People in the News
Susan Frost has stepped down as the president and chief executive officer of the Alliance for Excellent Education.
School & District Management
Philadelphia Cheers Better Test Scores
Philadelphia Cheers Better Test Scores
Excited over a promising batch of test scores, Philadelphia school leaders last week praised the six outside managers that have been running some of the city’s worst-performing schools.
Assessment
Board Adopts New Guidelines for Participation in NAEP
The panel that oversees the nation’s test of academic progress has approved new guidelines for determining whether students with disabilities and limited English skills must take part in it.
States
Fla. Says Goodbye to Outgoing Commissioner, Readies for Replacement
Florida’s new commissioner of education plans to uphold the school accountability measures championed by Gov. Jeb Bush and pledges to fully implement the class-size reductions and preschool programs now required under state law.
School Choice & Charters
Wis. Officials Flex New Power Over Milwaukee Vouchers
Wisconsin is clamping down on its program that allows private schools in Milwaukee to receive state-financed tuition vouchers. In the process, the state is wading into the debate over the role states should play in overseeing private schools that accept taxpayer money.
School Choice & Charters
Florida Weighs Impact of Ruling Against Voucher Program
A recent Florida appeals court ruling leaves in doubt the future of Florida’s state-financed tuition vouchers that students can use in religious schools.
Education
Texas Trial
Some things haven’t changed much in the two-plus decades since
Texas began arguing the case that led to the state finance system that
is currently on trial there.
Education
Ohio Schools Brace for Fallout From Levy Defeats
The impact of 77 school-tax-levy defeats out of 103 on local Ohio ballots a month ago is settling in across the state, as schools begin the year amid teacher layoffs, decreased bus service, and larger class sizes.
Education Funding
With $1 Billion Pledge, Calif. Settles Lawsuit
California will spend as much as $1 billion for educational supplies and school facilities to settle a major class action lawsuit brought on behalf of needy students.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters
- Arizona Plan Will Harm Those It Seeks to AID
- Seeking Helpful Stories Along ‘Wilderness Road’
- Students Tackle Global-Conflict Mediation
- Liberia’s ‘Fragile Peace’ and Degree Validation
- A Call for Standards in ‘Techno Common Sense’
- 'What Works' Divergence
- Computer Games: How Useful to Education?
- Down the Assessment Hole: Can Teachers Get Better Results, for Less?
Curriculum
Opinion
Let’s Clarify the Way We Use The Word ‘Curriculum’
Leadership coach Kim Marshall attempts to clear up the semantic confusion over the definition of 'curriculum.'
Federal
Opinion
The Tales We Tell Ourselves
The No Child Left Behind Act is plausible but oversimplified technical response to a complicated array of educational challanges, write James Harvey and Robert H. Koff.
Assessment
Online Test-Preparation Habits Examined
One of the largest studies to examine high school and college students’ online test-preparation habits found that they tend to spend more time doing vocabulary drills and word analogies than answering questions from reading passages, that they avoid math and science exercises, and that they wait until the last couple of weeks to begin studying.
Education
ACT Scores Show A Slight Increase
Despite an uptick in the average score on the ACT college-admission test, most high school seniors are still unprepared for college-level classes, sponsors of the test say.
Ed-Tech Policy
Opinion
Preparing Students for Work in a Computer-Filled Economy
Economists Frank Levy and Richard J. Murnane say that today's digital divide is between students who can use a computer to do valuable work and those who cannot.
Teaching Profession
Study Finds Teachers Are Losing Ground On Salary Front
Teachers' salaries have slipped over the past decade to well below those of comparable professions, a trend that is certain to complicate efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified educators for the nation's public schools, asserts a report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute.