September 10, 2008
Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 03
Education Funding
News in Brief
Chicago Students Shorten Boycott
Organizers called off a boycott of the Chicago public schools last week, saying they wanted students to return to class and Gov. Rod Blagojevich to meet to discuss the Illinois' education funding system.
Federal
Palin Takes Measured Tack On Alaska's School Issues
Although Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has espoused conservative positions on teaching creationism and abstinence-only sex education, the Republican vice presidential nominee has not pushed those beliefs into state policy.
School & District Management
Calif. Group Puts Muscle Into Charters
While most states where charter schools operate have some sort of umbrella charter group, the California Charter Schools Association stands out for the range and sophistication of support it offers.
School Choice & Charters
Opening a School Draws on All of Founders' Skills
Two principals act as administrators, organizers, marketers, and advocates in their mission to open a charter school for boys in New Orleans.
School & District Management
The High-Wire Job of Charter School Leadership
Being a charter school leader brings other challenges not often faced by principals of traditional public schools, who receive support from their districts’ central offices.
School & District Management
Management Networks Strive to Grow Like-Minded Schools
A new approach to the leadership and management of public schools has taken hold over the past decade, with the emergence of nonprofit groups that start and operate networks of charter schools.
School & District Management
Many Charter Boards Seen as Unprepared
Charter school boards serve in relative obscurity, even as they face distinctive challenges.
Families & the Community
Kentucky Trains Parents to Help Schools Bolster STEM Subjects
The program aims to transform parents into ambassadors for math and science education.
School & District Management
Leadership Gap Seen in Post-NCLB Changes in U.S. Teachers
A new study concludes that while teachers appear to be adjusting how they do their jobs, principals and district leaders are not necessarily in control of those instructional changes.
Special Education
Film Now Aimed at Iraqi Audience
In 2007, former photojournalist Dan Habib released a documentary about his son Samuel, an 8-year-old with cerebral palsy, and his family’s unflagging efforts to make sure that Samuel was a full participant in home and school life.
Federal
Federal File
Phone-In Fact Fest Offered on Obama
Two of Barack Obama’s education advisers are taking a page from the community-organizing playbook to tout the Democratic presidential nominee’s 10-point education platform.
Recruitment & Retention
Report Roundup
Managing Human Resources
School districts could more efficiently retain teachers by creating a single, dedicated office responsible for recruitment, staffing issues, a report argues.
Education
Report Roundup
Vouchers and Achievement
A review of existing research on private-school-voucher programs concludes that the additional achievement gains of voucher recipients tend to be small.
School & District Management
Preparation Programs Can’t Match Demand
A growing field of specialty programs has emerged to train principals for the demands of running charter schools.
School & District Management
Differing Organizational Models Help Charters Divide Up the Load
Given the wide range of duties involved in leading a charter school, it can be tough— and, some experts say, inadvisable—for one person to go it alone.
Education
Report Roundup
High School Completion
A report by the National Center for Education Statistics estimates that three-quarters of high school freshmen receive a diploma four years later.
Teaching Profession
GOP Notebook: Republican Convention
Notes on NEA members at the Republican National Convention, Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton's shared education agenda, and the the push for English to be the "official language" of the United States.
School Climate & Safety
Louisiana's Districts Pick Up After Storm
Educators in the southern half of the state were preparing to reopen most schools after students missed up to six days of instruction.
Education
News in Brief
N.Y.C. Panel Supports Renewing Mayoral Control of City’s Schools
The state law that gave New York City’s mayor control over its schools should be renewed, a commission said last week.
School & District Management
Wanted: The Perfect Person
The charter school movement faces daunting leadership and management challenges, especially as the sector continues its rapid expansion.
Early Childhood
Spec. Ed. Is Funding Early Help
Bit by bit, the U.S. Department of Education is trying to pull down the walls that have traditionally separated general and special education.
Law & Courts
Texas Bible-Study Classes Districts' Option, AG Says
Texas law requires schools to teach about religious literature, but must districts actually offer a Bible 101 class?
Teaching
Opinion
Service Learning: An On-Ramp to National Service
The education sector has a major role to play in new national initiatives to promote service learning, say James C. Kielsmeier and Jim Scheibel.
Science
Opinion
Scientific Literacy Without a Text
Students with a strong grasp of language could "infuse society with individuals capable of discussing the natural world in a literate manner," says W. Jason Niedermeyer.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
The Career Academy Story
Close study and evaluation, as seen in the research regarding career academies, can help inform and advance education policy, say J.D. Hoye and David Stern.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Another Ruling on Discipline That Disrupted the Schools
To the Editor:
Commentary author Perry A. Zirkel limits his explanation of the effects that court decisions have had on discipline in public schools to the 1975 U.S. Supreme Court case Goss v. Lopez (“Courts and Schools: The Need for Discipline,” edweek.org, Aug. 22, 2008). No one doubts the importance of this landmark case, but its impact pales in comparison to that of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Wood v. Strickland the same year.
Commentary author Perry A. Zirkel limits his explanation of the effects that court decisions have had on discipline in public schools to the 1975 U.S. Supreme Court case Goss v. Lopez (“Courts and Schools: The Need for Discipline,” edweek.org, Aug. 22, 2008). No one doubts the importance of this landmark case, but its impact pales in comparison to that of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Wood v. Strickland the same year.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Think Outside the Box in Hard Budget Times
To the Editor:
Two front-page stories in your Aug. 27, 2008, issue highlight the budget shortfalls schools are facing and discuss ways districts are trying to meet them (“Hard Times Hit Schools”; “Districts Cut Back Busing, Seek Ways to Save Energy”). And although a number of people quoted in the articles acknowledge that hard times are cyclical, not one offers a solution that gets to the root of the problem. No one is looking outside the box, but instead just recommending the same old, same old ways of temporarily dealing with a system that is essentially moribund.
Two front-page stories in your Aug. 27, 2008, issue highlight the budget shortfalls schools are facing and discuss ways districts are trying to meet them (“Hard Times Hit Schools”; “Districts Cut Back Busing, Seek Ways to Save Energy”). And although a number of people quoted in the articles acknowledge that hard times are cyclical, not one offers a solution that gets to the root of the problem. No one is looking outside the box, but instead just recommending the same old, same old ways of temporarily dealing with a system that is essentially moribund.
Federal
K12 Inc. Scraps India Outsourcing
A company that runs one of the nation’s largest networks of online schools has discontinued a program that arranged for U.S. high school teachers to send their students’ English essays to India for evaluations by reviewers there.