January 21, 2009
Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 18
Education
Change as a Teachable Moment
When KIPP Academy of Opportunity director Ian Guidera brought 12 of his students to Washington to see Barack Obama sworn-in as the 44th President he decided to use the trip as an opportunity to teach the students about the importance of strong leadership.
States
California Challenge: Avoid 'Dysfunction' in Resolving Budget
Education—and virtually all other government priorities—took a back seat to the state's fiscal crisis as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his Jan. 15 State of the State speech to push lawmakers to end a deficit stalemate that threatens to paralyze state operations.
Education
Correction
Correction
An article in the Jan. 7, 2009, issue of Education Week about a study on students' home Internet use gave an incorrect title for the report. It should have been "Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement."
Education
News in Brief
Catholic Schools to Close
Roman Catholic church officials in New York City say they plan to close 11 schools in Brooklyn and Queens because of plummeting enrollment.
Education
News in Brief
Pa. District Settles Discrimination Case
An Erie County, Pa., school district will pay former teacher Angela Barsotti $100,000 to settle claims that it discriminated against her after she revealed she had an eating disorder and depression.
Education
News in Brief
Missouri Schools Chief Dies
D. Kent King, a longtime superintendent who was Missouri's education commissioner for the past eight years, died Jan. 7.
Education
State of the States 2009: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
Here are summaries of recent annual addresses by governors around the country.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Wash. State Court Says Law on Teacher-Student Sex is Vague
Washington state law does not bar teachers from having sex with 18-year-old students.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Students Accused of Truancy Found Entitled to Legal Representation
A panel of judges has apparently made Washington the first state to rule that juvenile students accused of chronically cutting classes in public schools are entitled to a lawyer in their first court hearing.
Ed-Tech Policy
News in Brief
Internet Fears Seen as Overblown
A task force charged with assessing technologies to protect children from unwanted contact online has concluded that no single approach is foolproof and that parental oversight is vital.
Curriculum
News in Brief
Effort to Keep AP Italian Program Fails After Fundraising Falls Short
A last-ditch fundraising effort to keep the Advanced Placement program in Italian language and culture alive will not be enough to continue the classes and tests beyond this school year, the College Board announced this month.
Special Education
News in Brief
Autism Activist Quits Over Research Vote on Vaccine Link
Alison Tepper Singer, an executive with the New York City-based Autism Speaks, resigned last week because of a disagreement with the advocacy group's stance on vaccines as a possible cause of autism.
School & District Management
'We Must Do Better,' Duncan Says in Confirmation Hearing
What remains unclear, as Arne Duncan prepares to take the helm of the Department of Education, is where he would take federal education policy over the next four years,
Federal
As Bush, Spellings Exit, They Put Last Signatures on No Child Left Behind
Outgoing Secretary Spellings approves more states for flexibility and tells each state where it stands under the federal education law.
Accountability
Ga. District's Fiasco Prompting Reforms
Dismayed by a school district's loss of accreditation because of its former school board's behavior, business leaders, educators, and other experts across Georgia have worked for months to craft recommendations for avoiding such disasters in the future.
Law & Courts
Views on Speech by Students Clash
Two new books about the legal rights of students to express themselves bring fresh perspectives to an always vibrant area of the law. But the two volumes stake out distinctly different positions.
School & District Management
Federal File
These Cabinet Posts, Too, Handle Education Issues
The Obama administration will have more than one Cabinet-level official dealing with education-related matters.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Study Evaluates Boston's Charter Schools
Boston's charter schools significantly outperformed the city's traditional public schools in recent years, a new, in-depth report finds, while results for the city's "pilot schools" are "less conclusive."
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Online Learning
The time students spend using online social-networking sites and other forms of digital media is not wasted, according to a new report released last month from Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Federal
Report Roundup
New Reports Track 'No Child Left Behind' Progress
The U.S. Department of Education has published three new evaluations of separate portions of the 7-year-old No Child Left Behind Act.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Home Schooling
A new federal report documents dramatic growth from 1999 to 2007 in the number of children who were taught at home.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Staying In College
Louisiana community college students who took part in an innovative "performance-based" scholarship program stayed in school longer, earned more credits, and received higher grades than peers who received traditional forms of financial aid, according to a new report.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Adult Literacy
Adult literacy rates among Americans are available by state and county in a new analysis of data from the National Adult Literacy Survey.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Learning Time
As the number of schools needing improvement soars, it is increasingly important that school improvement plans include strategies that "expand where, when, and how" students learn, a new report argues.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Mobile Technologies
Children's lives have been caught up in a tide of mobile digital technologies—games, cellphones, and smartphones—that if carefully managed could significantly boost their learning, concludes a new report.
Equity & Diversity
Mixed Heritage Said to Present Complex Issues
While the incoming president is sparking interest in mixed-race children, the research base on their schooling contains sizeable gaps.
School & District Management
Opinion
Beyond Bricks and Mortar
Bruce S. Cooper offers his advice on ways the new administration can meld educational and economic improvement.
Families & the Community
Opinion
Improve Education From Day One: Leverage Parents
"For too long, schools have assigned parents the role of fundraiser and bake-sale booster. Let’s launch a national campaign that draws them more deeply into their children’s education,” say Bill Jackson & Leanna Landsmann.
School & District Management
Opinion
An Education Bill of Rights
"Any national conversation about what will make America strong and socially healthy must now, as in Roosevelt's time, include a serious commitment to public education," says Peter W. Cookson Jr.