October 15, 2008
Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 08
School & District Management
Opinion
Can You Believe in Change This School Year?
Paul Kelleher asks whether simply believing in change is enough to overcome both the external and internal barriers to accomplishing it.
Education
Letter to the Editor
The Self-Interested Tactics of Some Advocacy Groups
To the Editor:
Regarding your Sept. 17, 2008, front-page story “In Advocacy Realm, Specific Disabilities Gain in Prominence”:
Regarding your Sept. 17, 2008, front-page story “In Advocacy Realm, Specific Disabilities Gain in Prominence”:
Education
Letter to the Editor
How Does Business-Style Accountability Look Now?
To the Editor:
In response to “Education Budget Roiled by Financial Crisis” (Oct. 1, 2008):
In response to “Education Budget Roiled by Financial Crisis” (Oct. 1, 2008):
School & District Management
Opinion
What McCain and Obama Can Learn From Successful School Principals
For both principals and the next president, the welfare of others is at the heart of what they do, and successful leaders share many of the same characteristics, says Lew Smith.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Getting the Sputnik Era's 'Where We Stand' Wrong
To the Editor:
In his Commentary “Where We Stand: Echoes of Sputnik and a Call to Action” (Sept. 24, 2008), Ronald Thorpe commits two errors, one of them rare, the other all too common. The rare one happens when he asserts, “The United States once led the world in math, science, and other critical subjects.” This simply is not true.
In his Commentary “Where We Stand: Echoes of Sputnik and a Call to Action” (Sept. 24, 2008), Ronald Thorpe commits two errors, one of them rare, the other all too common. The rare one happens when he asserts, “The United States once led the world in math, science, and other critical subjects.” This simply is not true.
Education
Letter to the Editor
The Flexner Report
To the Editor:
In his Commentary “The Case for National Standards and Testing” (Sept. 17, 2008), Walt Gardner acknowledges upfront that “it’s always risky to compare professional education with general education.” But then he ignores those risks and argues that K-12 schooling in 2008 demands the same kind of standardization that the education of physicians required a hundred years ago, when Abraham Flexner wrote his famous report on American medical education. This argument is blind to the fact that K-12 schooling includes the entire population, while medical education engages only a select, self-chosen group. It also pretends that we live in a society just like the industrial society of the early 20th century.
In his Commentary “The Case for National Standards and Testing” (Sept. 17, 2008), Walt Gardner acknowledges upfront that “it’s always risky to compare professional education with general education.” But then he ignores those risks and argues that K-12 schooling in 2008 demands the same kind of standardization that the education of physicians required a hundred years ago, when Abraham Flexner wrote his famous report on American medical education. This argument is blind to the fact that K-12 schooling includes the entire population, while medical education engages only a select, self-chosen group. It also pretends that we live in a society just like the industrial society of the early 20th century.
Federal
Campaign K-12 Notebook
Recent incidents have reignited questions about the scope of teachers’ free-speech rights and the place of politics in the classroom and the rest of the school building.
Federal
Campaign K-12 Notebook
Recent incidents have reignited questions about the scope of teachers’ free-speech rights and the place of politics in the classroom and the rest of the school building.
Teacher Preparation
Aspiring Teachers Take Up Residence
The Boston Teacher Residency program has been successful in attracting members of racial- and ethnic- minority groups, as well as in retaining teachers.
Families & the Community
Candidates View Parental Role Differently
Parents play vital roles in their children’s education, John McCain and Barack Obama agree. But the presidential candidates disagree on what a president should do to encourage parents to participate in the educational experiences of their children.
Special Education
'Gifted' Label Said to Miss Dynamic Nature of Talent
For years, academically gifted children were thought to fit neatly into a category. But developmental psychologists are learning that people who are gifted are not categorized quite so neatly.
School & District Management
Ex-Louisiana Lawmakers Land Key Education Jobs
Dipping for the second time this year into the legislative ranks, the Louisiana Department of Education has hired the ex-chairman of the state’s House education committee, Republican Rep. Don Trahan, to serve as the agency’s liaison with business leaders and public-interest groups.
Federal
After-School Sessions Expanding the Reach of Summer Program
The Freedom Schools, sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund, now offers after-school programs in schools, churches, and public facilities in disadvantaged communities in six states, and is poised to expand to other urban districts.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Getting Past Generic 'Choice'
"The design challenge for school choice is to match supply with demand," say Frederick M. Hess and Bruno V. Manno.
Education
Correction
Correction
An In Perspective article on Chicago’s After School Matters program in the Sept. 24, 2008, issue of Education Week gave an incorrect number of participating high schools. It is 62 this academic year. Also, it incorrectly identified the status of supervisors for a martial arts program at JHP Community Center; they were instructors, not apprentices.
School & District Management
'Unifying' Districts Debated in Arizona
Education politics—and emotions—are heating up in Arizona in advance of a Nov. 4 vote on a plan that would unify 76 elementary and high school districts around the state into 27 K-12 districts.
Federal
States Roll Dice on New Funding
Amid tight budgets and shrinking revenue, states are wagering that voters in next month’s elections will agree to expand state-sanctioned gambling in exchange for increased school aid.
Federal
Opinion
What to Do With No Child Left Behind?
"Failing to address the three central flaws of No Child Left Behind could undermine the standards-based-reform movement—and indeed, our entire system of public education," says Richard D. Kahlenberg.
Federal
AT&T, JA Kick Off Job-Shadow Effort
The philanthropic arm of telecommunications giant AT&T and Junior Achievement last week launched a job-shadowing project as part of a broader effort to cut dropout rates and introduce high schoolers to the world of work.
Federal
Federal File
Spellings Highlights Performance Pay
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, known for her laser-like focus on the issues of student assessment and school accountability, turned her attention to performance pay at an Oct. 8 forum.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Ed. Department Says Federal Money For ELLs Can't Supplant Other Funds
The U.S. Department of Education has sent a letter to chief state school officers reiterating that states and school districts may not replace local, state, or other federal funding with federal dollars targeted for English-language learners.
Federal
Report Roundup
Childhood Health
Children in households where the parents are poor and not well-educated suffer worse health outcomes than their peers in richer and better educated households, says a new report from the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Sexual Orientation
Nearly nine out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students experienced some form of harassment at school in the past year, a new national survey of 6,200 middle and high school students has found.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Action on Religious Schools Urged
Following up on a White House summit meeting last spring, the Bush administration has issued a new report highlighting what it describes as the "rapid disappearance of faith-based schools in America’s cities."
States
States Press Ahead on '21st-Century Skills'
States are trying to revamp education to meet mounting demands that students possess not only academic skills, but also intellectual, social, and life skills needed to excel in college and the workplace.
Federal
Slow-Building Controversy
Commentators on the political right have fueled much of the controversy over connections between Sen. Barack Obama and 1960s-radical-turned-education professor William C. Ayers.
Federal
Ayers Controversy First Smoldered, Now Flares Bright
Months after conservative commentators began hammering Sen. Barack Obama over his connections to William C. Ayers, Sen. John McCain is clearly making the controversy a part of his campaign strategy.
School & District Management
Financial Crisis Now Striking Home for School Districts
The crisis besetting U.S. and world financial markets is hitting school districts hard, as they struggle to float the bonds needed for capital projects, borrow money to ensure cash flow, and get access to investment funds locked up in troubled institutions.
Federal
McCain and Obama Share Basic Views on Ed. Tech.
Their plans for using technology to improve schools differ on specifics, but Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have each taken the position that educational improvement efforts should be firmly supported using technology.