April 28, 2010
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 30
Education
News in Brief
Pa. District Acknowledges Capturing Webcam Images
The school district secretly captured at least 56,000 webcam photographs and screen shots from laptop computers issued to high school students, its lawyer acknowledged last week.
Education Funding
Race to Top Round Two Heating Up
States and teachers' unions clash over policy changes aimed at securing some of the $3.4 billion in stimulus grants still left.
Education
Correction
Correction
A story in the April 21, 2010, issue of Education Week about a tentative contract for District of Columbia teachers incorrectly identified Daniel A. Domenech’s title with the American Association of School Administrators. He is the executive director.
Education
News in Brief
Pa. Education Secretary Stepping Down
State education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak announced last week he will step down.
Education
News in Brief
Bill Reforming School Boards Moves to Ga. Governor's Desk
A bill that would allow Georgia’s governor to oust misbehaving district school board members was on its way to becoming law last week.
Education
News in Brief
Oakland Board Imposes 'Status Quo' on Teachers
After more than two years of unsuccessful negotiations, the Oakland, Calif., school board last week imposed a contract on teachers.
Education
News in Brief
Fla. Law Expands Vouchers for Low-Income Students
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last week signed into law a bill expanding the state’s private-school-voucher program for low-income students.
Education
News in Brief
Ala. Moves to Save Program for Prepaid College Tuition
The Alabama legislature reached a compromise last week aimed at shoring up the state’s prepaid-college-tuition plan and keeping the state’s promise to pay tuition for 44,000 students.
Education
News in Brief
New Legislation Raises Bar for Graduation in Florida
Graduating from high school in Florida just got more challenging, thanks to legislation Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law last week.
Education
News in Brief
Court Oversight Ends in Longtime Spec. Ed. Suit
A federal judge signed a joint settlement agreement last week that puts an end to a 26-year-old special education lawsuit in Baltimore.
Education
News in Brief
High Court Hears Case on Christian Student Club
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sharply divided last week over a case that turns on whether public colleges and schools may deny full recognition and benefits to student religious groups that require members to subscribe to their beliefs.
Education
News in Brief
Indiana District Settles With Student in Bias Lawsuit
An Indiana school district has reached an out-of-court settlement ending a three-year-long lawsuit that accused school officials of violating a biracial student's civil rights by suspending her after a fight with a white classmate.
Education
News in Brief
Miss. Student Sues District Over Prom-Date Dispute
A Mississippi teenager who challenged her school district's ban on same-sex prom dates is suing the district, claiming she suffered public humiliation because of its actions.
Education
News in Brief
N.J. Students Fail at High Rates on Revised Exam
Most of the New Jersey high school students who took the state's new alternative graduation exam late last year failed at least one section, state officials said.
Federal
Stiffer Title IX Policies Rolled Out by Ed. Dept.
The U.S. Department of Education is repealing a Bush-era policy that some critics argue was a way to avoid complying with federal law in providing equal opportunities for female athletes.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Job Loss Among Men Is No Victory for Women
To the Editor:
I agree with Lise Eliot and Richard Whitmire, the authors of the recent Commentary "Common Ground on Gender" (March 31, 2010). We must focus serious attention on boys’ literacy skills. Providing an excellent and equitable education to all students is too important to be viewed as a gendered, either-or proposition in which helping one sex automatically harms the other.
I agree with Lise Eliot and Richard Whitmire, the authors of the recent Commentary "Common Ground on Gender" (March 31, 2010). We must focus serious attention on boys’ literacy skills. Providing an excellent and equitable education to all students is too important to be viewed as a gendered, either-or proposition in which helping one sex automatically harms the other.
Teaching Profession
Schwarzenegger Backs Bill to End Seniority-Based Layoffs
Civil rights groups argue that the current system harms poor and minority students.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Scholastic Takes Issue With 'Digital Textbooks'
To the Editor:
I read with interest Gilbert T. Sewall’s Commentary "Digital Textbooks: They're Coming—But Will They Be Better?" in your April 7, 2010, issue, but was dismayed to see that the director of the American Textbook Council listed Scholastic along with several other publishers as a financially challenged publisher of textbooks. Scholastic is neither financially challenged nor are we a publisher of core textbooks.
I read with interest Gilbert T. Sewall’s Commentary "Digital Textbooks: They're Coming—But Will They Be Better?" in your April 7, 2010, issue, but was dismayed to see that the director of the American Textbook Council listed Scholastic along with several other publishers as a financially challenged publisher of textbooks. Scholastic is neither financially challenged nor are we a publisher of core textbooks.
Education
Report Roundup
Text Messaging
Daily text messaging among teenagers seems to be growing at breakneck speed, says a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life project.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Report Roundup
Research Report: Educational Technology
The State Educational Technology Directors Association recently released its 7th annual report on the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program.
School & District Management
Book Argues for How to Improve the Teaching Corps
One of the bolder ideas outlined is to simply get rid of the bottom 5 to 10 percent of all teachers.
Education
Report Roundup
Struggling Schools
Proceedings from a forum held to discuss results from a study of low-achieving schools in six states are summarized in a new publication from the Center on Education Policy.
Education
Report Roundup
No Learning Boost Found for Federal Grant Program
The Comprehensive School Reform program has yielded disappointing results, according to a federally funded evaluation of the program.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Schooling Boys of Color
The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color has crafted a document that schools or districts can use to assess whether they are adequately serving boys who are Latino or African-American.
Education
Opinion
High School Reform: Partnerships, Not Standoffs
Warren Simmons argues that trust-based partnerships—backed up with some important ground rules—can avoid the need for wholesale firings at troubled schools.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
College Prep for All? What We've Learned in Chicago
Research on schools' use of "default" college-preparatory curricula reveals some sobering downsides, write Christopher Mazzeo, Elaine Allensworth, and Valerie Lee.
Federal
Opinion
Did Congress Authorize Race to the Top?
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst questions whether the Obama administration has the authority to set the policies that are determining its allocation of stimulus funding.
School Choice & Charters
Education Bills Die in Ky. Legislature
| Kentucky | Both major education reform bills introduced in the course of Kentucky’s 2010 regular session died after passing one chamber of the legislature but failing to advance in the other.