April 12, 2000
Education Week, Vol. 19, Issue 31
Most assistant principals—who are often learning to become principals—spend little time on anything that resembles student learning or school leadership.
Education
Committee Debate Marked By Partisan Rancor
Efforts to wrap up the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the House education committee got off to a rocky start last week, as Democrats charged that Republican proposals to increase flexibility for states and districts would undermine their top priorities.
Efforts to wrap up the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the House education committee got off to a rocky start last week, as Democrats charged that Republican proposals to increase flexibility for states and districts would undermine their top priorities.
Equity & Diversity
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Kentucky Education Officials To Name Panel
To Examine Academic Achievement Gap - N.H. Panel To Weigh Impact of School Funding Options
- Students Getting Voice on Vermont School Board
Assessment
More N.Y. Special Education Students Passing State Tests
New York education officials pointed last week to the results for special education students on new state tests as early evidence that higher standards are pushing almost all students—including those with disabilities—to higher levels of achievement.
Curriculum
Aid for Private Schools Approved in Maryland
Despite vehement protests by teachers' unions, Maryland legislators last week approved a measure that would use public money to buy textbooks for students at all but the state's most expensive private schools.
School Climate & Safety
South Carolina Weighs Curbing Jail Time for Truants
A South Carolina legislator hopes to abolish a 1996 state law that permits judges to jail youths who skip school without having valid excuses.
Education Funding
State Journal
Leaving it to the expert
After going several fruitless rounds over how best to divvy up state education dollars, Idaho's legislative budget writers recently agreed to an unusual way out of the deadlock: They let the state schools chief decide.
Student Well-Being
Kerby Guerra, 1985-1999
The day Kerby Casey Guerra killed herself, the 13-year-old wore a perfect mask of happiness.
A day earlier, Kerby's mother had treated her to a manicure at a fashionable Colorado Springs salon, and Kerby seemed elated. The 8th grader was transferring from a school she hated, and things finally were starting to look up.
Student Well-Being
Jason Flatt, 1981-1997
When he killed himself nearly three years ago at age 16, Jason Flatt was a promising freshman football player who earned decent grades at the private Christian schools he had attended since 6th grade.
Ed-Tech Policy
National Standards On Technology Education Released
Schools should embrace activities that spur children to use their hands and minds together to solve problems more often, according to the International Technology Education Association, which has released national standards for technology education.
School Choice & Charters
Book Profiles System of School Choice In New Zealand
Charter schools in this country are still too new to allow any firm conclusions about their potential, says a new book that looks abroad for answers and suggests that inequities across schools could increase under such a system unless adequate safeguards are put in place.
School & District Management
Research Update
Wisconsin Study Finds Benefits In Classes of 15 or Fewer Students
Children in classes of no more than 15 students do better than those in bigger classes, a study from a Wisconsin program that provided poor students with smaller classes suggests.
School & District Management
Research Update
In Short
In the 1980s, the practice of "redshirting" children—delaying their entry into kindergarten until they are older—began to grow in popularity in schools nationwide. Some parents saw it as a way to give an academic edge to children who might be younger or less mature.
Student Well-Being
Complex Set of Ills Spurs Rising Teen Suicide Rate
The impetus for inner turmoil in the hearts of American adolescents in recent years cannot be gleaned from superficial clues such as whether a teenager plays violent video games, listens to Marilyn Manson CDs, or dons black trench coats, school psychologists say. Young people, they say, rarely wear their angst so conveniently on their sleeves.
Education
Owl Dilemma Delays School Construction Near Tucson
Although the pygmy owl is modest in size, it has been able to slow down bulldozers and confound a school system. As a result of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to add the creature to the endangered-species list in March 1997, environmentalists and developers in a southwest Arizona county are waging a battle, and a local school district is on the front line.
Ed-Tech Policy
Understanding Technology's Impact
The following is a sample standard in the "technology and society" category of the new national "Standards for Technological Literacy," released by the International Technology Education Association:
Student Well-Being
Millions for Poor, Disabled Children Misspent, GAO Says
A federal report on Medicaid in schools accuses states, districts, and private companies of improperly charging the federal government for hundreds of millions of dollars in payments earmarked for poor, disabled children.
Education
Schools Build Own Ramp Onto Info Highway
Although the particulars vary, educators in many regions have discovered that they have to jump-start the telecommunications revolution in their own communities.
School & District Management
Rural Youths Share Efforts To Keep Home Fires Burning
Members of the Students in Action group in tiny Arthur, Neb., have an ambitious plan to open a student-run grocery store in their ailing and isolated heartland community.
Teaching Profession
Districts Targeting Teacher Seniority In Union Contracts
The qualifications Meira Levinson brought with her to the Boston public schools this school year speak for themselves: an undergraduate degree from an Ivy League college, an Oxford doctorate in political theory, and three years' experience teaching at an Atlanta middle school.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- College Board Launches Drive for AP Availability
- Philadelphia Gets Hiring Help
- Fund Seeks 'Venture Capital'
- D.C. Advises Bus-Driver Review
- Mayor Names 3 to Board
- Groups Warns of Pesticide Risks
- College Aid for Gay Iowans
Education
Obituary: Milton Brutten
Milton Brutten, a co-founder of one of the country's first private schools for children with learning disabilities, died of complications from a stroke in Wayne, Pa., on March 16. He was 77.
Student Well-Being
Students' 'Diaries' Chart After-School Activities
An estimated 3.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 12 are spending an average of an hour a day home alone after school, a new study shows. But that really isn't that much, considering the "hectic, highly scheduled quality of contemporary family life," according to the researcher who conducted it.