April 25, 2007
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 34
Reading & Literacy
House Panel Grills Witnesses on Reading First
The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education referred some of the information gathered in a lengthy audit of the program to federal law-enforcement officials for further investigation.
Teaching
Studies Find That Use of Learning Toys Can Backfire
Some children are helped, but others become distracted by in-class "manipulatives."
Federal
10-Year Study Seen to Undercut Abstinence Emphasis
The study is likely to play a prominent role as lawmakers prepare to decide whether to renew funding for abstinence education.
Standards
States Working Together on Development Of Tests
Algebra 2 collaboration could boost joint efforts involving other subjects.
Equity & Diversity
Immigration-Status Queries Still a Problem
Illinois cautions districts on what they can seek in confirming students' residency.
Families & the Community
House Panel Examines NCLB Supplemental Services
House lawmakers invited ideas on how to improve the quality of and access to tutoring made available under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Ed-Tech Policy
ASCD, District, Company Team Up on Assessments
An online tool, which has a professional-development component, conducts formative assessments for schools.
Federal
Missouri Seeks to Aid ELLs Now Overlooked: Those With Disabilities
Educators are trying to combat a lack of referrals of English-language learners to special education in the state.
Federal
State Lawmakers Weigh Issue of National Standards
Standards supporters have found a new bargaining chip: flexibility in implementing the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Early Childhood
N.M. Expands Kindergarten-Plus Program To More Grades
The move is aimed at helping narrow the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers.
Education
Opinion
Thinking Ahead
Psychologist Howard Gardner shares his prediction for which mental capacities will be of greatest need in the increasingly globalized, rapidly changing 21st-century world.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Teachers’ Unions Taking Professional Development Online
The move could represent a large-scale shift into digital professional development for teachers.
Education
Opinion
New in Print
Gender, the Internet, race and education, and reading are some of the topics covered in this month's book reviews.
Curriculum
Opinion
Chat Wrap-Up: Making Curriculum Meaningful
Experts answered readers’ questions on how to make lessons more meaningful at a time when schools are increasingly focused on test scores.
Education
Events
22-23—Minority education: Educating the African American/Hispanic Male Child Seminar, sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators, for teachers, at African American Images, Inc., in Chicago. Contact: Shantelle Green, African American Images, Inc., 1909 W. 95th St., Chicago, IL 60643; (773) 445-0322; fax: (773) 445-9844; e-mail: sgreen@africanamericanimages.com; Web site: www.africanamericanimages.com.
May
22-23—Minority education: Educating the African American/Hispanic Male Child Seminar, sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators, for teachers, at African American Images, Inc., in Chicago. Contact: Shantelle Green, African American Images, Inc., 1909 W. 95th St., Chicago, IL 60643; (773) 445-0322; fax: (773) 445-9844; e-mail: sgreen@africanamericanimages.com; Web site: www.africanamericanimages.com.
Education Funding
Supreme Court Backs Ed. Dept.’s Interpretation of Impact Aid Act
Under the statute, states with equalized funding systems may offset the same amount that districts receive in federal impact aid.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Rookie Teachers vs. Veterans, Post-Katrina
Teaching is a skill rooted in college degrees in education and nurtured by experience. From my perspective, it usually takes from three to five years to know your job.
Education
Letter to the Editor
For Technology to Work, ‘Sit ’n’ Git’ Model Must Go
The Institute for School Innovation has been working with several hundred elementary schools across America to integrate technology into the classroom.
Classroom Technology
Letter to the Editor
Scorn for Federal Study on Impact of Software
As a longtime educational technology executive, I find the federal study proclaiming no advantage to using technology-based reading and math programs incredible.
Education
Letter to the Editor
In Pre-K: Want the Best Teachers? Then Pay for It.
High-quality teacher training for early childhood is critical, because working with preschoolers is specialized. Good, better, best—you want best? You must pay for it.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Technology Counts and Its ‘Fundamental Flaw’
There is not good systemic evidence to show that the use of technology improves the educational experience of students.
Education
Letter to the Editor
In-Service Essay Draws Further Reader Comment
I do not think I am the only reader still waiting for a response from your editorial staff to Grant Wiggins’ reasonable requests in a March 28, 2007, letter.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Reading List for a Less Rosy View of NCLB Effects
It is Mr. Simon who appears to have ignored the record, not critics of standardized testing and the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Abolish High School? Drucker Pushed Idea, Too
Which official poses the best solution to cope with our 30 percent dropout rate?
Education
Letter to the Editor
Two Questions Provoked by Teacher-Pay Story
The recent article about a so-called teacher panel calling for pay raises for K-12 teachers who increase student performance was a welcome joke at a recent lunch break.
Federal
Letter to the Editor
Teachers Should Find a Voice Beyond Unions’
What other profession gets away with such long-term shoddy performance? Only in a monopoly that has a stranglehold on the way education is delivered is such a lack of accountability possible.
Early Childhood
Research Offers Competing Data on Effectiveness
Questions over the long-term effectiveness of Head Start—and debates over the research into it—are almost as old the program itself.
Early Childhood
For Head Start, A Marathon Run
The pioneering federal preschool program, launched during the War on Poverty, faces reauthorization amid competition from state programs and perennial debates about its efficacy.