April 13, 2016
Education Week, Vol. 35, Issue 27
Reading & Literacy
Can Latin Help Younger Students Build Vocabulary?
Students as young as 1st grade are learning Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, and bases as a way to build vocabulary skills.
Student Well-Being
Students Help Design Measures of Social-Emotional Skills
The Washoe County, Nev., district is working to develop sophisticated measurements of its comprehensive program to keep students engaged and on track to graduate.
IT Infrastructure & Management
FCC Expands 'Lifeline' Program to Bridge the Digital Divide
Education and civil rights groups hailed the move as a critical step toward closing the "homework gap" that exists between students with and without adequate Internet access.
College & Workforce Readiness
Career-Tech Linked to Graduation Boost—But Not Tracking
Contrary to public perceptions, students are not being tracked into CTE programs, concludes a study of Arkansas schools.
School & District Management
Fee-Payer Issue Still Alive, Despite Close Call for Unions
The U.S. Supreme Court's deadlock in a case over teachers' union fees for non-members was a relief for organized labor, but cases on the issue still percolate in the lower courts.
College & Workforce Readiness
Only 8 Percent of Grads Take Enough College, Career Courses
Many of the rest are just meeting minimal curriculum requirements, says a report from the Education Trust.
Teaching
Opinion
The Power of Experiential Learning
Experiential learning can inspire and prepare today's students for jobs that have yet to be invented, writes Hampshire College president Jonathan Lash.
School & District Management
Opinion
A Vision for the K-12 Urban School District
Philadelphia's former deputy school superintendent Paul Kihn suggests a path forward for urban school districts that try to accomplish too much.
School & District Management
Opinion
How Should Schools Purchase Ed. Tech?
Schools often buy technology for the classroom on the basis of marketing rather than careful analysis, writes Harold O. Levy.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
How to Teach for a Better World
Teachers shouldn't shy away from exposing students to thorny ethical issues in developmentally appropriate ways, writes educator Zoe Weil.
College & Workforce Readiness
Letter to the Editor
U.S. Military's Career-Aptitude Testing Raises Student-Privacy Concerns
To the Editor:
I appreciated your recent article on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB ("Military Eyes Wider Access for Career-Aptitude Test Under ESSA"). As the only school testing program exempt from the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the armed-services test battery deserves much greater scrutiny than it has been getting thus far.
I appreciated your recent article on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB ("Military Eyes Wider Access for Career-Aptitude Test Under ESSA"). As the only school testing program exempt from the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the armed-services test battery deserves much greater scrutiny than it has been getting thus far.
Accountability
Letter to the Editor
Former Schools Chiefs Counter Criticism of State-Run 'Opportunity' Districts
To the Editor:
The recent Education Week Commentary "When 'Opportunity' Is Anything But", which argued against state opportunity school districts, is a hyperbolic warning built on distorting the facts and attacking straw men.
The recent Education Week Commentary "When 'Opportunity' Is Anything But", which argued against state opportunity school districts, is a hyperbolic warning built on distorting the facts and attacking straw men.
Families & the Community
Letter to the Editor
Organization Takes a Stand Opposing Proposed Report Cards for Parents
To the Editor:
The Mississippi legislature is considering a proposal, House Bill 4, that is attempting to prescribe criteria to measure and ensure parents' involvement in their children's public education ("Mississippi Lawmaker: Give Parents Grades Along With Their Children"). The blog post notes that the author of the bill, Rep. Gregory Holloway, a Democrat, has said he hasn't met with any resistance to the plan.
The Mississippi legislature is considering a proposal, House Bill 4, that is attempting to prescribe criteria to measure and ensure parents' involvement in their children's public education ("Mississippi Lawmaker: Give Parents Grades Along With Their Children"). The blog post notes that the author of the bill, Rep. Gregory Holloway, a Democrat, has said he hasn't met with any resistance to the plan.
States
State of the States: D.C., Ohio
Here are summaries of recent annual addresses by governors around the country.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
1st Graders Suspended for Plotting to Poison Peer
Three 1st graders in Alaska plotted to kill a fellow student with silica-gel packets that the girls believedwere poison, authorities say. The three have been suspended but not charged with any crime.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Tribeca Film Festival Pulls Anti-Vaccine Film
The Tribeca Film Festival in New York City has pulled from its schedule this month a controversial documentary asserting a causal link between childhood vaccines and autism.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Ed. Dept. Awarding Grants to Save Native Languages
The U.S. Department of Education is offering $3.2 million in grants to support the instruction and study of Native American languages, in an attempt to support the preservation of those languages and boost the education of Native youths.
Families & the Community
News in Brief
No Need to Flag Materials With 'Sexual' Content
Gov. Terry McAuliffe last week vetoed a bill that would have made Virginia the only state to require K-12 teachers to identify classroom materials with "sexually explicit content" so that parents could opt their children out of such reading.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
ACLU Sues New Mexico Over Teacher Gag Order
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging a regulation that prohibits New Mexico teachers and other public school employees from disparaging standardized tests.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Oklahoma Districts Sue State Over Funding Miscalculations
Nearly 50 Oklahoma school districts are asking the state supreme court to compel the state education department to determine how much it underpaid them by miscalculating state aid for nearly 22 years and to recoup overpayment that was incorrectly awarded to other districts.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Newtown Teacher Charged For Bringing Gun to School
A teacher was arrested last week for bringing a gun to a middle school in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman shot and killed 20 students and six educators at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, police said.
Federal
News in Brief
Transitions
Michael Yudin, the assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, is leaving the U.S. Department of Education April 30.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Long-Run Gains Seen for Charter Grads
Charter school graduates in Florida were more likely to stay in college and earn higher salaries than their district school peers.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Student Wellness
Extending sleep time by no more than 20 minutes a night was associated with better grades for elementary students, finds a small study in the journal Sleep Medicine.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Teaching Economics
Millennial teachers are more likely to believe that financial literacy should be taught in schools than their older colleagues, concludes a report from professional-services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Sports Injury
High school athletes do not take significantly longer to recover from concussions than their collegiate counterparts, negating the need for separate injury-management protocols for the two groups, says a study published online last month in the Journal of Athletic Training.
Families & the Community
Report Roundup
Involving Parents
While charter schools are intended to give parents a say in their children's education, few get seats on the governing boards at Massachusetts campuses, according to a new report.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
School Leadership
Gender gaps among public school leaders have reversed since the late 1980s, finds a new federal analysis.