February 27, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 24
School & District Management
New Student-Survey Policy Worries Some Researchers
A provision of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires school districts to formulate policies for notifying parents—and for protecting families' privacy—when students are asked to take part in surveys that contain questions about a variety of sensitive topics.
A provision of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires school districts to formulate policies for notifying parents—and for protecting families' privacy—when students are asked to take part in surveys that contain questions about a variety of sensitive topics.
Teacher Preparation
Tools of the Trade
As education schools face pressure to retool, and as accelerated programs churn out new teachers, Shady Hill represents a third way of training educators.
Education Funding
Budget Negotiations Hit Impasse In the Miami-Dade Schools
Efforts to close an $81 million budget shortfall in Florida's Miami-Dade County schools stalled last week when Superintendent Merrett R. Stierheim declared an impasse in negotiations with the local teachers' union.
Education
Retrospective
Stories from March 3, 1982: A study finds mandatory desegregation more effective than voluntary plans; Virginia's House passes a bill to require a two-year probationary period for teachers; the S.D. Supreme Court upholds the firing of a teacher accused of spending too much time teaching creationism; the National Governors' Association says the U.S. will be left behind in technological development if math and science education aren't improved; and more.
Stories from March 3, 1982: A study finds mandatory desegregation more effective than voluntary plans; Virginia's House passes a bill to require a two-year probationary period for teachers; the S.D. Supreme Court upholds the firing of a teacher accused of spending too much time teaching creationism; the National Governors' Association says the U.S. will be left behind in technological development if math and science education aren't improved; and more.
Assessment
Voucher Plans' Test Data Yield Puzzling Trends
The latest results from a pair of studies of school choice programs in New York City and the District of Columbia raise as many questions as they answer about what happens when students are given vouchers to help pay for their private school tuition.
Education
Education Leader, Citizens' Advocate, And Professor John W. Gardner Dies
John W. Gardner, one of the architects of the educational and other social programs enacted as part of the Great Society initiatives of the 1960s, died Feb. 16 at the age of 89. He had prostate cancer.
Families & the Community
Take Note
Meal Deals
Parents in Mesa County, Colo., are getting a chance to become more involved in their children's education by sitting down at the dinner table.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- L.A. Pulls Copies of Koran After Footnotes Draw Fire
- Miami-Dade Board Member Hit With Election Charges
- Dallas Considers Switch to District-Run Police Force
- Calif. Bookkeeper Charged With Swiping School Funds
- Pa. Department of Education Sues 'Cyber' Charter School
- Valentine's Day Treats Cause the Fur to Fly
- Mass. District Eyes Fees to Relieve Budget Woes
School Climate & Safety
Smaller Classes Under Scrutiny in Calif. Schools
Riding a wave of fiscal good times, California in 1996 launched an ambitious statewide push to lower class sizes in the crucial elementary grades. Now, as an era of hearty budget surpluses has given way to leaner times, some California districts are taking a hard look at whether smaller classes are worth the hefty price tag.
Education Funding
Capital Programs Retrench After Terror Attacks
Organizations offering educational tours of Washington's policymaking world have had to cut operating costs in response to drops in enrollment since September 11.
Law & Courts
Peer Grading Passes Muster, Justices Agree
Allowing students to grade each other's papers in class does not violate the federal law that guarantees the privacy of education records, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week. Includes excerpts from Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's opinion.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Extension Granted in Ohio Funding Case
- States Join Forces on Teacher Quality
- Broad Florida Voucher Bill May Stall in Senate
Student Well-Being
Statements to School Counselor Not Protected, Mich. Court Rules
Statements made by two male high school students to a school counselor about the sexual assault of a female student were not protected by teacher-student confidentiality, a Michigan appeals court has ruled.
Education
State Journal
Political Education
It was billed as a major debate for Illinois' gubernatorial candidates—vying in one of the tightest and most closely watched races in the country—to hash out their plans for education.
Law & Courts
McGreevey Creates Panel To Iron Out Abbott Wrinkles
Ushering in what he called a new age of cooperation, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey signed an executive order last week designed to ease the rocky implementation of billions of dollars in court-ordered improvements in the state's poorest school districts.
School Choice & Charters
Audit Spurs Drive to Revamp Ohio's Charter School System
Following a scathing report on the state's role in overseeing charter schools, the Ohio state board of education has asked the legislature to overhaul the state's charter school law.
School Choice & Charters
Private Schools
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, Texas, plans to open a high school in August that would be the third such Catholic school in the nation to use a work-study program to subsidize its costs.
Work-Study School
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, Texas, plans to open a high school in August that would be the third such Catholic school in the nation to use a work-study program to subsidize its costs.
School Choice & Charters
A School Choice For the Supreme Court
A long-awaited constitutional showdown over religious school vouchers finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court last week, with the justices engaging in a vigorous debate over school choice that often put voucher opponents on the defensive.
Education
The Court's Verdict
Following are excerpts from the opinion of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo.
Education Funding
States Find No Easy Solutions For Budget Woes
Most states are studying new taxes, budget cuts, or tapping reserves as they build fiscal 2003 budgets. The picture is a far cry from the good times of recent years, which allowed lawmakers to give generous increases to education, while also trimming taxes.
Education
Demystifying ESEA: Companies See Opportunity
As administrators clamor for guidance on the new reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a cottage industry has been born to answer the call. Consultants and businesses are leaving behind no opportunity to come to the rescue of districts with ESEA-related products and services.
As administrators clamor for guidance on the new reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a cottage industry has been born to answer the call. Consultants and businesses are leaving behind no opportunity to come to the rescue of districts with ESEA-related products and services.
Federal
Secretaries' Day: Agency Heads Mull State of Education
Last week, most of the former secretaries, plus Rod Paige, currently occupying that post, came together on the campus of Duke University in Durham to hash over the state of education.
Special Education
Michigan Board Vote Ends Battle On Spec. Ed. Regulations
The Michigan state board of education has unanimously approved a package of rules for special education, closing the door on a yearlong battle with angry parents, students, and advocates for children with disabilities.
School Choice & Charters
Supreme Court's Voucher Showdown Draws Hundreds To Witness History
Representatives from both the pro-voucher and anti-voucher camps gathered in line Feb. 19 at the base of the Supreme Court's steps to secure a seat for the arguments the following morning.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Court Declines to Hear Case
On Condemnation for School - Bush Names HBCU Advisory Panel
Education
Events
A symbol (*) marks events that have not appeared in a previous issue of Education Week.
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March
1--Counselors: Counselor Workshop for New Counselors, sponsored by the College Board, for new college counselors, at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. Contact: Stephen DiPietro, CB, 3440 Market St., Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 387-7600, ext. 124; fax: (215) 387-5805; e-mail: sdipietro@collegeboard.org; Web site: www.collegeboard.org.