November 29, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 13
Federal
Surge in Company-Sponsored Studies Sparks Concern
Slick marketing fliers touting Scholastic Inc.’s education products are designed to coax customers into buy mode. But for the discerning consumer, the New York City-based publisher is armed with something more substantial: dense reports filled with data designed to prove the effectiveness of its offerings.
Federal
Opinion
Chat Wrap-Up: In the Wake of the Midterm Elections
On Nov. 10, readers and reporters from the paper explored the implications of the midterm election results for education. The guest panelists were Associate Editor David J. Hoff, Assistant Editor Linda Jacobson, and Staff Writers Michele McNeil and Jessica L. Tonn.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
The Wrong Debate
Charles L. Glenn, an education historian and the interim dean of Boston University’s school of education, makes the argument that private schools and charter schools are justified not because of the excellent academic results they produce, but because parents want them.
School & District Management
Opinion
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Education professors Bruce Baker and Michael A. Rebell explain why they think weighted-student funding is not the "100 percent solution."
Federal
Education Spending Bill Uncertain in Lame-Duck Session
Education legislation took a back seat to other priorities during much of the 109th Congress, a pattern that appears likely to continue in the lame-duck session that began after Election Day.
Education Funding
Calif. Group Pushes Access to Charters
The California Charter Schools Association has launched a public-awareness campaign and grant-making initiative designed to significantly increase the number of parents who have access to charter schools in their neighborhoods.
School & District Management
Some Calif. Achievement Gaps Are Widening, Study Finds
After seven years of a school accountability program, achievement gaps in California’s schools are widening in some grades, according to a recent assessment of the state education system.
Law & Courts
Funding Advocates Accuse Idaho’s High Court Of ‘Cop-Out’
After 16 years of litigation over how to pay for school facilities in Idaho, the only certainty in the case is uncertainty.
School & District Management
Getting Down to the Core
In taking a more centrally managed approach to high school curricula, Chicago joins a small but growing cadre of school districts nationwide, including Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Ore. The switch represents a distinct culture change in a world where teachers and schools have been accustomed to choosing or writing their own material.
Education
Report Roundup
Fathers’ Language Skills
A father’s language skills may have a greater impact on a child’s language development than the mother’s speech does, a study suggests.
Education
Report Roundup
Education-Income Link
The level of education achieved continues to be a factor in income growth for different racial and ethnic groups, but the amount of that growth varies, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.
Education
Report Roundup
High School Improvement
High schools should establish more orderly environments and do a better job preparing students for life after high school, particularly for youths from low-income families, according to a research brief by the National High School Center.
Education
Report Roundup
Report Examines Single-Sex Classes
Less than a month after federal education officials affirmed the legality of single-sex education in public schools, a report says that proof of the benefits of single-sex classes is insubstantial.
School & District Management
In Some Districts, Outside Groups Have Inside Track
North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system got new leadership in August, but it wasn’t the superintendent or the school board. A civic group, Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education, was launched with the aim of becoming a major player in district policy.
Special Education
Special Education Directors Hope to Sway Federal Policy
State special education directors hope that when Congress takes up the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act next year, it will consider making changes that more closely link special education and general education.
School Climate & Safety
As Enrollment Drops, Ohio Districts Paring Plans for Construction
Caught in a steep enrollment decline, the Cleveland school district must revise its $1 billion construction program.
Law & Courts
Federal File
Student Speech on the Docket?
Two cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket deal with the same red-hot question: What are the constitutional contours of students' free-speech rights?
School & District Management
Project to Seek High-Poverty Schools’ Best Practices
Jon Schnur favors rewarding educators in carefully thought-out ways for significantly increasing their students’ performance. But as the co-founder and chief executive officer of the group New Leaders for New Schools, he saw a new federal grant program designed to steer schools in that direction as the opportunity to do much more.
Federal
Some Ideas May Not Wait for NCLB Renewal
Even if the Democratic-led Congress doesn’t reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act in the next two years, Democrats will have plenty of chances to push forward with their K-12 priorities.
School Choice & Charters
Rural Chiefs Have Leverage in Fights Over Choice
In their quest to bring more private school options to parents, school choice advocates say they’ve run into a formidable and unexpected opponent: the rural school superintendent.
School & District Management
Democrat Winner After Recount in S.C. Schools Chief Race
Democrat Jim Rex has been declared South Carolina’s next schools chief, surviving a contentious campaign that featured TV ads and debates over school choice.
Budget & Finance
N.J. Panel Eyes Changes in School Funding
In an attempt to reduce property taxes in New Jersey, a legislative committee is recommending that the state completely rewrite the way it finances schools and wipe out the special-needs designation that has driven billions of dollars in extra funding to its poorest urban districts.
Education
People in the News
Curtis Carroll
Curtis Carroll has been named an area superintendent for the 129,000-student Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, based in Charlotte, N.C.
Education
People in the News
Elaine Wrisley Reed
Elaine Wrisley Reed plans to retire next month as the executive director of the National Council for History Education, a Westlake, Ohio-based organization that promotes better education in that subject in schools and society.
Education
People in the News
David Myers
David Myers has been named the senior vice president and director of education and human development at the American Institutes for Research, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that conducts research on issues in health, education, and workforce productivity.
Education
Obituary
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman, the renowned economist who was considered the father of the school voucher movement, died Nov. 16. He was 94 and had suffered heart failure.
Education
A National Roundup
Boarding School Receives $25 Million
The foundation of a deceased alumnus of a private boarding school in Woodberry Forest, Va., has pledged $25 million to the man’s alma mater.
Federal
Opinion
‘Proficiency for All’ Is an Oxymoron
Richard Rothstein, Rebecca Jacobsen, and Tamara Wilder argue that accountability should begin with realistic goals that recognize human variability.
Education
A National Roundup
Contract Agreement Gives Miami-Dade Teachers Raises
Teachers in Miami-Dade County, Fla., would get immediate raises of between 2 percent and 6 percent, and starting teachers would take home nearly $2,000 more in the first year, under a tentative agreement reached between the local union and the school district.