February 2, 2011
Education Week, Vol. 30, Issue 19
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
College Board's SAT Goes Statewide in Delaware
In a bid to raise college awareness and readiness among high school students, the state of Delaware will offer every 11th grader the chance to take the SAT college-entrance exam, free of charge, during the school day.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Georgia District Refers 29 in Test-Cheating Probe
Officials with Georgia's DeKalb County schools said last week that they would ask the state to investigate 29 current and former employees as part of a test-cheating probe.
Equity & Diversity
News in Brief
Tucson Board Won't Join Ethnic-Studies Lawsuit
The school board of the Tucson, Ariz., Unified district decided against joining a federal lawsuit by teachers who are challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that bans courses that promote solidarity among a particular ethnic group.
School & District Management
News in Brief
NYC Deputy Chancellor Retires
Deputy Chancellor Eric Nadelstern, once thought to be a candidate for the top job at the 1.1 million-student district, retired last week after 39 years in the school system.
School Choice & Charters
News in Brief
Charter Schools Gain Seats in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Unified School District officials approved a plan last week to offer an unprecedented 25,000 classroom seats to 81 charter schools on district campuses.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
New Tenn. Evaluation System, Due in 6 Months, Lacks Detail
A new teacher-evaluation system based heavily on value-added scores is set to launch in districts across Tennessee in six months, even though parts of it haven't been written and principals haven't been trained to use it.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Houston Pays $42 Million in Value-Added Bonuses
Houston Superintendent Terry Grier said his district must take a "hard look" at its performance-bonus program, which paid $42 million last week to reward about 92 percent of its employees.
Teaching
News in Brief
Chicago Expanding Free Breakfast to All Students
The Chicago board of education adopted a sweeping new program last week to offer free breakfasts in the classrooms of all of its public elementary schools.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
Two-Year Colleges Improve Freshman-Retention Rate
New survey data from ACT Inc. show that public two-year colleges are improving in their ability to retain freshman students, but four-year private colleges are slipping.
Education
News in Brief
Wake County Board Ends Accreditation Standoff
The Wake County, N.C., school board agreed last week to cooperate with a national accrediting agency's review of the system's high schools, ending a political standoff.
Education
News in Brief
Atlanta's School Board Accepts Probation Report
The Atlanta school board voted last week to accept a report from a major accrediting agency putting the district on accredited probation and listing steps it can take to avoid losing its accreditation.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
L.A. Judge Limits Seniority Layoffs
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has approved a sweeping overhaul of how teachers are laid off in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Teach For America to Launch Endowment With $100 Million
Teach For America is getting $100 million to launch its first endowment with the goal of making the organization a permanent fixture in education.
States
State of the States
State of the States 2011: Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and South Carolina
Education Week's coverage of the governor's addresses in Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
A Letter to My President—The One I Voted for...
It's poverty that sentences many children to lackluster educations, not their struggling schools, but the Race to the Top does not reflect that bitter reality, teacher Paul Karrer writes.
Education Funding
Opinion
An Open Message to President Barack Obama
Daniel Tanner has a laundry list of complaints against the administration's education policies and it begins with Race to the Top.
Science
Opinion
Encouraging the Hand-Mind Connection in the Classroom
Margaret Honey and Eric Siegel argue that the best way for students to get excited about math and science is by encouraging them to create, build, and invent.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Study Identifies Common Teacher Training Practices
A new report shares approaches used in four states with high student achievement and active professional development programs.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
District Spending
Rural districts in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah spend more per student and hire more staff per 100 students than neighboring city and suburban districts.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Teacher Compensation
Student performance and accountability must be added to the teacher-pay equation in the Boston public schools, according to a new report.
Classroom Technology
Report Roundup
Online Learning
The U.S. market for self-paced e-learning products and services in pre-K-12 education has increased by 16.8 percent over the past five years, according to a new study.
School & District Management
Big-Name Crowd Lends Gist Support
A new education group has penned a letter asking Rhode Island's governor to keep the state schools chief on the job and keep the basic composition of the state's board of regents, which appoints her.
Education
Letter to the Editor
How Teachers and Technology Can Work for Students
To the Editor:
In their recent Commentary, Jonathan Miller-Lane and Tara Affolter wrote that “every teacher must have both a firm grasp on content and be able to make learning meaningful to the next generation of children” (“Toward Greater, More Equitable Access to an Excellent Education,” Jan. 19, 2011). For that, they ask us to rely on and enhance the place of liberal arts in the training of teachers. But there is another way to tackle the problem. Suppose we bifurcate content from critical thinking and assign the delivery of the former to the wonders of technology, while the latter becomes the primary job of a transformed teaching profession.
In their recent Commentary, Jonathan Miller-Lane and Tara Affolter wrote that “every teacher must have both a firm grasp on content and be able to make learning meaningful to the next generation of children” (“Toward Greater, More Equitable Access to an Excellent Education,” Jan. 19, 2011). For that, they ask us to rely on and enhance the place of liberal arts in the training of teachers. But there is another way to tackle the problem. Suppose we bifurcate content from critical thinking and assign the delivery of the former to the wonders of technology, while the latter becomes the primary job of a transformed teaching profession.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Financial Aid
Students need information earlier in their education careers about college costs and available grants and loans, as well as encouragement to save, a study commissioned by the College Board says.
Families & the Community
Report Roundup
Children of Incarcerated Parents
Child-care workers, teachers, and counselors need to be trained to recognize and address the far-reaching impact that parental incarceration can have on children’s educational experience.
Law & Courts
Report Roundup
School Misdemeanors
The growing practice of sending students to court rather than suspending them from class is increasing their chances of academic failure and justice-system involvement, a new report concludes.
Education
Mastery of Science Eludes Most Students, NAEP Scores Indicate
Thirty-four percent of 4th graders, 30 percent of 8th graders, and 21 percent of seniors met at least the "proficient" level.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Protocol Can Help Schools Make Informed Decisions
To the Editor:
Robert Granger raises important issues in the Commentary “Learning From Scale-Up Initiatives” (Nov. 17, 2010), regarding the challenge of knowing when programs shown to work at small scale can be reproduced more broadly in new locations. One area Mr. Granger underscores as needing study is the array of conditions under which programs operate that could potentially have an impact on their effectiveness. We are involved in a project where such conditions are the focus of study.
Robert Granger raises important issues in the Commentary “Learning From Scale-Up Initiatives” (Nov. 17, 2010), regarding the challenge of knowing when programs shown to work at small scale can be reproduced more broadly in new locations. One area Mr. Granger underscores as needing study is the array of conditions under which programs operate that could potentially have an impact on their effectiveness. We are involved in a project where such conditions are the focus of study.