June 16, 1999
Education Week, Vol. 18, Issue 40
School & District Management
As NPEAT's Focus Shifts, Its Director Resigns
An ambitious, federally financed partnership aimed at improving knowledge about teaching will undergo a change in leadership.
Education
Court Lets Stand Ruling on Lawyer-Parent's Legal Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court declined last week to hear the appeal of a Maryland lawyer-parent who sought an award of attorney's fees in his legal battle with a school district over his son's special education plan.
Federal
Federal File
In recent years, many education gurus have stressed high academic standards and back-to-basics curricula. And schools have often responded by cutting so-called extras such as physical education to focus on academics.
Getting physical
In recent years, many education gurus have stressed high academic standards and back-to-basics curricula. And schools have often responded by cutting so-called extras such as physical education to focus on academics.
Assessment
The Assessment Culture: Introduction
Gauging the knowledge students acquired was an endeavor of educators long before the 20th century dawned, but it has become a national obsession as the century ends.
Accountability
Congress Takes Up Debate on Accountability
"Accountability" has become a watchword in recent years for state legislators looking for ways to revamp K-12 education and hold schools, educators, and students responsible for showing results.
Education
Colleges Urged To Meet Women's Changing Needs
Colleges and universities will have to change the way they do business if they want to accommodate the increasingly heterogeneous population of women yearning to earn a degree, a report released last week concludes.
States
Outspoken State Chief in Georgia Still an 'Outsider' in Second Term
After squabbles with state school board members, public relations blunders, and clashes with such well-respected groups as the PTA, it would have been understandable if Linda C. Schrenko had let her first term as Georgia's schools superintendent be her last.
Assessment
Testing Across Time
Over the century, students have been faced with various forms of assessments. What follows is a sampling of questions; wording and punctuation are as they appeared to test-takers.
Early Childhood
Wis. Plan To End Milwaukee Busing Advances
A plan that would dismantle 25 years of mandatory busing in Milwaukee and provide millions of dollars for building and improving neighborhood schools is moving through the Wisconsin legislature and could be on the governor's desk by summer's end.
Assessment
State Journal
Citing William Graham Sumner, a 19th century sociologist who wrote that "things perceived to be real are real in their consequences," Ohio Sen. Eugene J. Watts said the last thing he wants is for Buckeye State residents to perceive that state lawmakers are somehow getting cold feet over high academic standards.
Revisions retreat
Citing William Graham Sumner, a 19th century sociologist who wrote that "things perceived to be real are real in their consequences," Ohio Sen. Eugene J. Watts said the last thing he wants is for Buckeye State residents to perceive that state lawmakers are somehow getting cold feet over high academic standards.
School & District Management
Federal Panel Seeks Tighter Limits on Vans, Small Buses for School Use
School buses are far safer than vans in crashes, and states should allow only the special yellow buses to regularly transport groups of children, a federal safety panel declared last week.
Education
People in the News
Five teachers have been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kan.:
Five teachers have been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kan.:
Education
Urban Education
Tackling Absenteeism: A study on teacher absenteeism in Broward County, Fla., has found that teachers are most often away from their classrooms in the district's poorest schools. As schools' percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced-priced lunches climbs, so does the likelihood of teacher absence.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
Illinois Governor Signs Bill Allowing Tuition Tax Credits
Parents in Illinois who pay tuition to send their children to private, religious, and out-of-district public schools will be able to receive a state tax break of up to $500, under a measure Gov. George Ryan signed into law this month.
Assessment
Mass-Produced Pencil Leaves Its Mark
Over the 20th century, the tests designed to measure what students know have changed like the seasons, but one thing has remained a constant: the tool necessary to record such measurement--the lead pencil.
School Choice & Charters
Ohio Senate Bill Would Limit Cleveland's Vouchers to K-5
Fifth graders attending private and parochial schools through the Cleveland voucher program would not receive taxpayer-funded tuition payments to attend 6th grade, under a measure passed last week by the Ohio Senate.
Social Studies
History Journal Gives High School Students a Showcase
At age 18, Jonah Knobler has accomplished what usually takes a young historian years: the publication of his work in an acclaimed academic journal.
Student Well-Being
Injuries, Liability Spur Demand for Athletic Trainers
In January, Spencer Frost broke his leg playing basketball for his high school team in Waterford, Wis.
Education
Proposal To Boost Funding for Gifted Programs Wins GOP Praise
A proposal to substantially step up federal aid for gifted and talented students won a sympathetic ear from Republican lawmakers during a Senate hearing last week.
Education Funding
Carnegie Corp. Repeats History With New Library Grants
In 1899, the industrialist Andrew Carnegie began a historic quest to create free public libraries around the world. Now, a century later, one of the foundations that bear his name is doling out $15 million in grants in the same spirit to libraries across the country.
Education
Philanthropy
Boston's Godmother: Pam Trefler, called the "godmother" of the Boston public schools by administrators there, unveiled a $2 million grant last month for use at two city high schools. It was the third large gift given by the philanthropist's Boston-based Trefler Foundation to individual Boston high schools over the past two years.
School Choice & Charters
Calif. Deal on Charter Unionization Moves Forward
Teachers' union officials in California have backed away from their push to mandate collective bargaining for charter school employees. Instead, they have thrown their support behind compromise legislation that would formalize the employees' rights to seek union representation or negotiate their own contracts.
School Choice & Charters
Universities, Private K-12 Schools Report Sharp Rise in Donations
Private contributions to many independent K-12 schools and all U.S. colleges and universities grew in 1998 by the fastest pace in years, thanks in part to a surging economy and stock market, an annual report says.
Equity & Diversity
Study: Effects of Child Care Linger in Early Grades
High-quality child care not only prepares children for school, it can also help them succeed once they get there, according to the latest results of a four-year study that followed children through the 2nd grade.
Federal
Columbine Serves as Catalyst for Lawmakers
With a mingled sense of hope and frustration, state lawmakers are passing scores of measures designed to help make schools safer and prevent the kind of incident that left 15 people dead at a Colorado high school this spring.
Assessment
Made to Measure
Come every spring, Texas students from the 3rd to the 10th grades take the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills.