May 7, 2014
Education Week, Vol. 33, Issue 30
Equity & Diversity
School Desegregation Plans: A National Census
In the 2011-12 school year, more than 1,200 local educational agencies—including school districts and charter schools—in every state except Hawaii and Nevada, reported to the U.S. Department of Education that they were under a federal desegregation plan that was either ordered by a court or entered into with the Office for Civil Rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Standards
State Political Rifts Sap Support for Common-Core Tests
Assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards are drawing fire at the state level, even as most states stick with the standards initiative.
Student Well-Being
Autism Issues Complicate Anti-Bullying Task
Schools are using a variety of approaches to improve social interactions between students with developmental disabilities and their typically developing peers.
Education Funding
Rural Charter Schools Face Special Challenges
In many rural communities, a small but growing number of charters are scrounging for space and competing with regular schools for scarce resources and students.
Standards
Opinion
Charting a Common-Sense Course for the Common Core
States should phase in use of common-core assessments for teacher evaluation, write Jane Leibbrand and Alice Seagren.
Data
Google Amends Terms for Scanning User Data
The company's announcement that it would end the scanning of student e-mails for ad purposes comes after it faced intense scrutiny for its privacy practices.
Education Funding
School Districts Get Advice on 'Doing More With Less'
To help school leaders facing long-term budget issues, the District Management Council has outlined steps that school districts can take to manage their funds more effectively.
Teaching Profession
N.Y.C. Union, Reach Tentative Deal on Contract
The plan would increase teacher salaries by 18 percent over nine years, slim the district's teacher-evaluation criteria, and pave the way for a teacher career ladder.
Teacher Preparation
New Teacher-Preparation Standards Focus on Sex Education
Sex-education classes are often taught by health teachers who have little training in the subject or how to teach it, say standards developers.
School & District Management
School Budget Problems Have Deep Roots in Philadelphia
Inconsistent state funding, charter school costs, debt payments, and education cuts all play a role in the school system's recurring fiscal crises.
Equity & Diversity
News in Brief
Title IX Protects Transgender Youths, Federal Guidance Says
Updated Title IX guidance released last week by the U.S. Department of Education clarifies that the civil rights law's protection extends to all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Justices Mull Public-Employee Testimony
The U.S. Supreme Court last week stepped back into the area of First Amendment free-speech rights of government workers.
Teacher Preparation
White House Turns Up Heat on Teacher Preparation
The Obama administration cites as a priority long-delayed federal rules aiming to hold teacher education programs accountable for producing effective talent.
Education
News in Brief
Tornado Destroys School Set to Open in the Fall
A tornado violently ripped through Arkansas last week, killing at least 14 people and destroying much of Vilonia, a small town about 30 miles north of Little Rock. Damage in Vilonia, also the site of a 2011 tornado, included a newly constructed, $12 million intermediate school set to open in the fall.
Federal
News in Brief
Former OMB Official Tapped for Ed. Dept. Post
Robert Gordon, who played key roles in the White House Office of Management and Budget under the Obama administration, including during the development of the education portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has been tapped to serve as the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development at the U.S. Department of Education.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
State High Court Reinstates Wyoming Schools Chief
Cindy Hill returned last week as the head of Wyoming's education department, following a judge's ruling that puts to rest her bitter legal battle to regain the office.
Reading & Literacy
Research Drives Teacher Training for Digital Reading
A Pennsylvania school district is working to train high school teachers in ways to help students transfer print-based reading strategies to their lessons when they use iPads.
Reading & Literacy
Digital Reading Poses Learning Challenges for Students
Some academics, educators, and technology vendors are pushing to minimize the distracting bells and whistles that abound in high-tech instructional materials.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
What Relationships Mean in Educating Boys
The connection between male students and their teachers is crucial, Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley write.
School Choice & Charters
News in Brief
Catholic Schools Benefit From Converting to Charters
Roman Catholic schools that converted from private schools to public charter schools experienced a significant increase in student enrollment, finds a recent analysis from the Friedman Foundation, an Indianapolis-based, pro-school-choice group.
School & District Management
U.S. Graduation Rate: Same Results, Different Measures
Regardless of how it was counted, the nation's high school graduation rate cracked 80 percent for the first time with the class of 2012.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
College Completion
A report issued by the Lumina Foundation finds that 39.4 percent of Americans ages 25 to 64 have a two- or four-year college degree, an increase from 37.8 percent reported last year.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
NCAA Rejecting Coursework From 24 K12 Inc. Schools
The National Collegiate Athletic Association won't accept coursework completed by student-athletes at two dozen virtual schools operated by K12 Inc., as of 2014-15, at any Division I or Division II institution.
Early Childhood
Report Roundup
Early Childhood
The Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised, an assessment of quality that is commonly used by states to judge preschool programs, has little connection to the academic, language, and social functioning of children evaluated at age 5, says a study.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
School-Attendance Laws Linked To Rises in Educational Equity
If results from previous centuries hold true, forcing students to stay in school longer could be a way to increase educational equality, according to a report.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Community Schools
A group of national education organizations has released a guide that is designed to encourage school board members to leverage community partnerships to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of individual students.
School Choice & Charters
News in Brief
11 States Require Closure Of Low-Performing Charters
Eleven states have passed laws that require charter authorizers to shut down schools if they do not reach certain benchmarks, according to a policy brief by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Student Nutrition
Moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom may help increase test scores without eating up much instructional time, a new study has found.