May 24, 2000
Education Week, Vol. 19, Issue 37
School & District Management
Maryland Study Finds Benefits In 'Integrated Instruction' Method
Maryland elementary students who were taught to read by teachers who combined reading lessons with other subject matter made much bigger gains on reading tests than children who were drilled on skills alone, a report concludes.
Teaching Profession
Cincinnati Board Approves Pay-for-Performance Initiative
Cincinnati's public schools will pioneer an innovative plan to pay teachers based on their performance rather than on the number of years spent in the classroom, provided that the local union ratifies the change this coming fall.
School & District Management
Levy To Stay in N.Y.C., Ackerman Quits D.C.
Three big-city school districts weathered major transitions last week in their top management, as New York's temporary leader became its permanent one and the superintendents in the District of Columbia and Denver resigned.
Education
Turnover at the Top
Harold O. Levy, left, who has been the interim chancellor of the New York City schools since January, was named as the permanent replacement for Rudolph F. Crew.
Education
In the Age of Accountability, A Blue Ribbon Means a Lot
Every year, about the time the cherry blossoms bloom creamy pink, dozens of educators gather at a Washington hotel to decide which schools will earn the National Blue Ribbon Schools award, and which ones won't.
Every year, about the time the cherry blossoms bloom creamy pink, dozens of educators gather at a Washington hotel to decide which schools will earn the National Blue Ribbon Schools award, and which ones won't.
Education
People in the News
George F. Garcia has been named the superintendent of the 27,000-student Boulder Valley public schools in Boulder, Colo. Mr. Garcia, 57, is currently the superintendent of the 63,000-student Tucson, Ariz., district. He was Arizona's superintendent of the year for 1998.
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Equity & Diversity
Calif. Schools Lack Basics, Suit Alleges
Several California civil rights organizations sued the state last week, charging that it has failed to provide some students with even the most basic of educational necessities.
Education
Honors and Awards
The U.S. Department of Education announced the winners of the 1999-2000 National Blue Ribbon Schools awards last week. The awards recognize schools nationwide that have shown outstanding qualities, such as high student achievement and high rates of parental involvement.The program alternates the level of school honored; this year, secondary schools were honored, and next year elementary schools will be recognized. The 198 winners are listed below by state.
Student Well-Being
Cranked Up
With more young people getting caught in the maelstrom of methamphetamine abuse, school and community leaders are struggling to come to their rescue.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- House Bill Makes Changes to Impact Aid
- School Groups To Promote Selective Service System
Law & Courts
Court Declines To Hear Teacher's Appeal In Drug Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined last week to hear the appeal of a high school teacher who was fired after a marijuana cigarette was found in her car and she refused to take a drug test.
College & Workforce Readiness
Colleges Angry About Financial-Aid Rules
Higher education officials are angry over new regulations that will change the way colleges and universities structure financial-aid packages for needy students in the $200 million federal Gear Up program.
Education
Federal File
Temporary truce
House Democrats and Republicans can't seem to agree on much about education policy, but they put their differences aside and came together to honor teachers earlier this month.
School Climate & Safety
Bill Would Require N.Y.C. To Comply With Limits On Special Ed. Class Sizes
New York City school officials would have to set up more classes for their special education students next fall, under newly passed legislation that requires the district to start complying with state class-size limits.
Student Achievement
La. Set To Retain 4th, 8th Graders Based on State Exams
Louisiana is poised to become what appears to be the first state to hold back elementary and middle school students based on so-called high-stakes tests.
School Choice & Charters
Judge Overturns South Carolina's Charter School Law
A South Carolina judge has ruled that a racial quota in the state's charter school law renders the entire act unconstitutional, leaving lawmakers scrambling to forge a new plan before the legislative session ends next month.
Education Funding
Calif. Leaders Balk at Tax Break For Teachers
California legislators of both parties seem content to go along with Gov. Gray Davis' proposal to spend nearly $4 billion more on education, but they appear to be giving a collective thumbs-down to his widely publicized plan to exempt teachers from the state's personal-income tax.
Recruitment & Retention
Ala. Lawmakers Reach Deal On Principal Tenure, Teacher Salaries
Alabama Gov. Donald Siegelman claimed victory last week as the state legislature hammered out an 11th-hour deal to gradually increase teacher salaries to the national average and to end tenure for new principals. He is expected to sign the measures into law this week.
School Choice & Charters
Campaign Cash From Voucher Backers At Issue in Wisconsin
In 1997, Justice Jon Wilcox of the state supreme court was up for election to a full term on the bench, when late in his campaign, some 354,000 postcards flooded mailboxes urging citizens to vote.
Early Childhood
Elementary Schools Using Blocks To Build Students' Skills
Few materials have been as important in early-childhood education as blocks.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- Ariz. High School Athletes Indicted on Hazing Charges
- Ala. District Spending Examined
- Athlete Moved to House Arrest
- Grant Boosts School-Family Ties
- S.C. Coach Pleads Guilty
- Threat Changes E-Mail Policy
- Los Alamos Schools To Reopen
- 6th Graders Charged With Lying
- Principal Resigns Over Gun
School Climate & Safety
Columbine Report Underscores Need To Share Data With Police
The exhaustive report released last week by the Jefferson County, Colo., sheriff's office on the Columbine shootings was a sharp reminder to school officials across the nation of the need to share detailed information about their facilities with local police—from building plans to light switches.
School Choice & Charters
Gauging the Impact of Competition
Nine years after the first charter school was created in St. Paul, Minn., nearly 1,700 are operating in 34 states and the District of Columbia. But the question remains: Are public schools any better for it? Last in a five-part series.
Teacher Preparation
NCATE Unveils Standards Based on Performance
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education released new standards last week.
Teacher Preparation
Excerpts From NCATE Standards
Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions. Candidates preparing to work in schools as teachers or other professional school personnel know and demonstrate the content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn. Assessments indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and institutional standards.
Student Well-Being
Meth 101: Hitting the Heartland
For the past two years, Iowa state officials have had to rely on a 20-foot-long trailer to get the word out about methamphetamine. The drug isn't covered in depth by existing drug-abuse-prevention curricula, they say, and is too big a problem in the state to go unaddressed. So officials have depended on the Iowa National Guard to help them haul a mobile methamphetamine exhibit from one town to another.
Ed-Tech Policy
Ed. Dept. Revising Its Priorities For School Technology
It's time to revise the nation's goals for education technology, according to the Department of Education, which has been seeking comments on suggested changes.