December 2, 1998
Education Week, Vol. 18, Issue 14
Student Well-Being
Sex With Students: When Employees Cross the Line
It may start with a warm smile or an affectionate hug. But often, far more often than many people think, those friendly moments mask the first steps by a teacher or coach down the road that leads to sexual relations with their young charges and the shattering of a sacred trust.
Student Well-Being
In Youth's Tender Emotions, Abusers Find Easy Pickings
More than a year before he stole her virginity in the high school wrestling room, Michael Dwayne Blevins had figured out how to make the pretty blonde in his 8th grade science class feel special.
School Climate & Safety
Labels Like 'Pedophile' Don't Explain the Many Faces of Child Sexual Abuse
When the school band director is convicted for having sex with a 14-year-old trumpet player, more likely than not at least someone in the community will label him a "pedophile."
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
Wash. Education Department; Arizona Postpones Exit Exam; Texas Agency Finds Dallas Errors
School Choice & Charters
Vouchers Yield Mixed Results, Report Says
Students using vouchers to attend established private schools in Cleveland are slightly outperforming their public school counterparts in language skills and science, and doing about the same in reading, math, and social studies, according to the latest independent evaluation of the program.
Education
State Journal
Motivated by a near-drowning in a school swimming pool, New Jersey has enacted a law requiring that swim teachers at least know how to swim.
'Common sense'
Motivated by a near-drowning in a school swimming pool, New Jersey has enacted a law requiring that swim teachers at least know how to swim.
Education
Take Note
When the Virtual Trade Mission Foundation arrived to conduct a workshop on international trade at the 1,600-student North High School in Wichita, Kan., Principal Roel Quintanilla did not expect to be sending one of his students on a presidential visit to Malaysia as a result.
Learning the trade
When the Virtual Trade Mission Foundation arrived to conduct a workshop on international trade at the 1,600-student North High School in Wichita, Kan., Principal Roel Quintanilla did not expect to be sending one of his students on a presidential visit to Malaysia as a result.
Education
People
Don Nielson, a member of the Seattle school board, has donated $1 million to the district's fund-raising arm, the Alliance for Education. Mr. Nielson has been a member of the board for five years and currently serves as the vice president of the seven-member panel. The money Mr. Nielson, a biotechnical and chemical research businessman, donated is to be used for professional development in the 47,600-student system.
Education
Research Council Pledges Help in Setting NAEP Levels
When the National Research Council called the process of setting achievement levels for the nation's report card "fundamentally flawed" in a recent report, it provided only sketchy details on how to make the system better.
Ed-Tech Policy
First Wave of 'E-Rate' Awards Finally Delivered
Three thousand and sixty letters were on the way to school and library mailboxes last week, bearing news their recipients have waited a long time to hear: You are getting your "E-rate" discount.
Assessment
Mass. Students Fare Poorly on New Standards-Aligned Tests
Although the majority of students performed poorly on Massachusetts' first standardized assessment aligned with the state's new standards, few school officials there say they will worry just yet.
Education
Teachers Propose Integrating Schools by Socioeconomic Status
A task force of teachers is urging the Jefferson County, Ky., school district to integrate its schools based on students' socioeconomic status and "at risk" characteristics rather than race.
College & Workforce Readiness
School-to-Work Movement Faces Test, Study Says
The school-to-work reform movement doesn't stand a strong chance of surviving after the federal money for it winds down in 2001, predicts an evaluation that will soon be released to Congress.
Law & Courts
Wis. Version of 'E-Rate' Challenged on Religion Grounds
Students at St. Aloysius now have access to the Internet at school, and they have the state of Wisconsin to thank.
Education
Teaching & Learning
Mass. Union Suggests Ways
To Improve Teachers: As a storm continues to rage around the state's new licensing exam for prospective educators, a Massachusetts teachers' union is calling for a broader approach toward improving teacher quality--including an end to the traditional undergraduate education program.
Mass. Union Suggests Ways
To Improve Teachers: As a storm continues to rage around the state's new licensing exam for prospective educators, a Massachusetts teachers' union is calling for a broader approach toward improving teacher quality--including an end to the traditional undergraduate education program.
English-Language Learners
Report: Agency Pushes Use of Bilingual Ed.
The office charged with enforcing civil rights laws for the Department of Education has overstepped its mandate and pressured schools to use or expand bilingual education, says a report from a Washington-based think tank that opposes such classes.
Education
Gov.-Elect Davis Gets Early Start on Education Policy
Owning up to his campaign promise to make education a top priority, Gov.-elect Gray Davis of California plans to convene a special legislative session on schools after he is sworn in next month.
Student Well-Being
About This Series
This series is the result of a six-month project by Education Week Associate Editor Caroline Hendrie and Deputy Managing Editor Steven Drummond.
Education
Federal File
Goals 2000 has effectively helped some states achieve reforms they would not have made otherwise, according to a report that gives the 4-year-old program a boost before it faces critics in Congress next year.
Goals Update
Goals 2000 has effectively helped some states achieve reforms they would not have made otherwise, according to a report that gives the 4-year-old program a boost before it faces critics in Congress next year.
Education
Reporter's Notebook
Federal Agency To Send Anti-Drug Materials to All Middle Schools: Every middle school in America is about to get a hefty dose of drug-abuse-prevention materials, courtesy of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Federal Agency To Send Anti-Drug Materials to All Middle Schools: Every middle school in America is about to get a hefty dose of drug-abuse-prevention materials, courtesy of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Education Funding
Critics See 'Pork' in Budget Items Earmarked for Higher Education
Federal taxpayers will spend $2 million in fiscal 1999 to archive former Sen. Bob Dole's papers at the University of Kansas, and that, says one budget watchdog, is an example of higher education "pork."
Education
Not by the Book
Most experts say districts should think carefully before dropping their textbooks, if they decide to do so at all.
Education
ABOUT THE SERIES
This series is the result of a six-month project by Education Week Associate Editor Caroline Hendrie and Deputy Managing Editor Steven Drummond.
Education
New Fire Law Turns Up Heat on N.D. Schools
The two school buildings in the Langdon district in northern North Dakota are typical of many others built in the state nearly three decades ago. In both, glass around the classroom doorways allows natural light to penetrate the schools' sheltered corridors.
Federal
Burgeoning Budgets Put GOP in Unusual Policy Position
Riding the wave of the gop 's congressional takeover in the 1994 elections and spurred by a budget-conscious House majority, Republicans vowed to streamline education and the rest of big government, even to the point of targeting 80 programs for elimination and threatening to abolish the Department of Education.
Education
International Cooperation Focus of NAEYC Conference
International Cooperation Focus of NAEYC Conference: More than 20,000 educators from several nations gathered here recently to discuss international approaches to improving early-childhood education.