August 8, 2001
Education Week, Vol. 20, Issue 43
Education
Students in Predominantly Minority Schools
American schools became increasingly more segregated in the 1990s, a rise that a researcher attributes to white flight to suburban areas, federal courts' ending the strong desegregation plans of the 1960s, and the fact that Hispanic students were not included in desegregation efforts.
College & Workforce Readiness
Private Colleges, Universities Set Standards To Gauge Aid Eligibility
To help establish a more consistent process for providing financial aid to low-income students, the presidents of 28 private colleges and universities have agreed on a set of common standards for determining a family's ability to pay the cost of an undergraduate education.
Education
Teaching & Learning
- AFT Leader Calls for Universal Preschool
- Civics Knowledge
- Middle School Help
- College Board Success
Teaching Profession
Unions Cement Partnership To Work on Range of Projects
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have gotten the go-ahead to forge an ongoing alliance to pool their advocacy efforts.
Assessment
Testing Opponents Speak Out In ESEA Homestretch
Teachers, administrators, parents, and advocates nervous about federal proposals for high-stakes testing are suddenly making more noise over the issue than all the jackhammers chewing away at the nation's roadways this summer.
Teaching Profession
Prep-School Program Opens Doors for Minority Teachers
Over more than a decade, Kelly Wise, the founder of the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers at Phillips Academy here has helped 364 African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans complete master's and doctoral degrees leading to education careers.
School & District Management
August Openings Put Schools On Hot Seat
It may not have the same ring as "See You in September," but more and more school districts are telling students to make sure they're back in August for the first day of school—sometimes as early as the first week of the month.
Standards
'New Standards' Leaves Legacy Of Unmet Goals
Ten years ago, a group of some of the nation's best-known education thinkers assembled 450 educators to lay the groundwork for changing the nature of American schools. Today, though, the initiative's leaders acknowledge they fell short of achieving their vision.
Teaching Profession
Reporter's Notebook
Delegates Reminded of Elusiveness of Universal Schooling
As delegates to this year's Education International conference here pledged to step up their efforts to improve school attendance worldwide, the site of the meeting itself served as a striking reminder of just how big a challenge that will be.
Education Funding
Education Funding Looms Large In Tenn. Budget Fight
Tennessee lawmakers were expected to continue their budget wrangling this week, after Gov. Don Sundquist vetoed a hard-fought state budget that he saw as shortchanging education and other spending priorities.
States
State Journal
Debating the Decalogue
Legislators in North Carolina have cleared the way for schools to display the Ten Commandments, but through the lens of history, not religion.
Accountability
Bush Warns Against 'Undoable' ESEA Progress Standard
President Bush urged Congress last week not to overreach in setting the bar for adequate school performance, just as several reports have been released suggesting that current language in both the House and Senate education bills would do just that.
President Bush urged Congress last week not to overreach in setting the bar for adequate school performance, just as several reports have been released suggesting that current language in both the House and Senate education bills would do just that.
Assessment
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Wash. Teachers' Union Fined
for Its Spending on Politics - Vallas Running for Illinois Governor
- Finance Case Dismissed in Texas
- Md. Urges End to Indian Mascots
- Bilingual Ed. Ban Pushed in Mass.
- Minute of Silence Upheld in Va.
- Few Pass Colo. Test
- Mass. Shifts Focus of History Test
Student Well-Being
New Laws Leave Ritalin Decisions To Parents and Doctors
Two states have enacted what are thought to be the nation's first laws to clarify that parents, not school districts, will have the final say on whether their children take drugs to control behavior.
Equity & Diversity
Schools Grew More Segregated In 1990s, Report Says
Despite the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court nearly a half-century ago that school segregation was unconstitutional, the nation's schools became increasingly more separated by race in the 1990s, according to a report by the Harvard Civil Rights Project.
School & District Management
Panel To Detail National Strategy For Research
Two years ago, a National Research Council panel published a report sketching out the "big picture'' for a 15-year strategy to make education research more useful. Last month, a second panel began the painstaking work of filling in the details.
Education
Laura Bush: A Teacher in The (White) House
As the Bush administration's resident educator, the 54-year-old first lady is her husband's best argument that his often-stated commitment to education comes from an authentic and personal place. Mrs. Bush has pledged to make education a top East Wing priority, and now she's working to deliver.
Federal
Rush of Confirmations Populates Paige's Executive Suite
The lights of the Department of Education's executive suite are not only on, but now, finally, more than a handful of people are home. Eight new members have joined what had for months been a skeleton crew of top-ranking political appointees, after the Senate confirmed more of President Bush's nominees.
The lights of the Department of Education's executive suite are not only on, but now, finally, more than a handful of people are home. Eight new members have joined what had for months been a skeleton crew of top-ranking political appointees, after the Senate confirmed more of President Bush's nominees.
Education
Federal File
Without DeLay?
An "awful" bill? Hardly the adjective you'd expect from a top Republican leader— and Texan—to describe education legislation that is a top priority for President Bush.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- House Begins Work on OERI Revision
- Panel To Study NAEP Use as Check on Tests
- President Approves Extra Title I Funding
- Math-Science Bill Clears House
Early Childhood
Administration Launches Effort To Boost Early-Childhood Skills
The Bush administration is launching a five-year, $50 million study to uncover the best ways to enhance all areas of children's development and readiness for school success.
Education
Media
Education Story: The traditional American ideal of having a common school for all is being challenged by the increasingly diverse strategies being employed to educate the nation's children, according to "School: The Story of American Public Education," a new documentary to be aired by the Public Broadcasting Service next month.
Education
Children's Express News Agency, Deep in Debt, Verges on Collapse
For 26 years, a small army of school-age journalists has been fanning out in cities and suburbs with notepads and microphones, asking questions about things they rarely see in grown-up papers and news shows: things important to kids. Now, the news service that dispatched them is on the brink of collapse.
Education Funding
California Budget Pinch Leaves Schools Largely Unscathed
When the dust finally settled from the California legislature's weeks-long battle over a slimmed-down state budget, the schools proved to be the biggest victors.
States
Louisiana Plan To Subsidize Pre-K In Religious Schools Draws Fire
Louisiana is launching what many in the state are calling a private-school-voucher program for poor 4-year-olds in New Orleans, sparking controversy in the Bayou State.