March 13, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 26
States
Calif. Vote Brings New Voices To Policy Debates
Two come-from-behind candidates advanced in California's March 5 primary elections, bringing unexpected voices to the state's debate on education and its struggling economy.
Two come-from-behind candidates advanced in California's March 5 primary elections, bringing unexpected voices to the state's debate on education and its struggling economy.
Student Achievement
Testing Experts Develop New Method of Presenting Achievement-Gap Data
A report prepared by the board that governs the National Assessment of Educational Progress cautions that measuring an achievement gap does not come down to a single statistic. Includes the chart, "Charting Gaps and Gains."
Teacher Preparation
Bush Touts Plans to Help Teachers At Teacher Education Conference
President Bush last week seized the opportunity of a White House conference to promote his plans to expand a college-loan-forgiveness program for teachers and set up a federal tax-deduction plan to repay those who have spent their own money on school supplies.
Education Funding
$20 Million Grant Award Targets Baltimore High Schools
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and eight philanthropies based in Baltimore are granting the Baltimore public schools $20.8 million to retool nine struggling high schools, as part of an ongoing effort by the Gates Foundation to decrease school size.
Federal
Former Chicago Schools Chief In Tight Race for Governor
Paul G. Vallas took the helm of the Chicago public schools in 1995. Now, the man widely credited with turning around the nation's third-largest school district has taken on yet another closely watched challenge: the race to be chief executive of Illinois.
Student Achievement
Welfare Changes Hurt Teenagers' Achievement, Study Says
When the federal welfare overhaul was enacted nearly six years ago, policy experts worried about what would happen to young children in families on public assistance when their mothers went to work. New findings, however, buttress earlier reports indicating that experts should have been concerned about teenagers, too.
Education
State Journal
On the Road Again
Linda C. Schrenko, Georgia's superintendent of schools, has been keeping a busy travel schedule, according to new state figures.
Education Funding
Oregon to Vote on Ed. Trust Fund; Kitzhaber Vows to Fight GOP Plan
A political impasse over Oregon's budget troubles continued this month, following the end of a second special legislative session to resolve a funding gap of almost $1 billion in the state's current two-year budget.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Maryland's 8th Grade Tests to Be Optional This Spring
- Ala. Clips Birmingham Title I Aid
- New Illinois Award Shows Gaps
- After Tussle, Ariz. Teachers Get Raise
- Scarsdale, N.Y., Eschews Test Boycott
Assessment
Study: Money Is Sufficient To Meet ESEA Testing Rules
The testing requirements in the new federal education law are affordable, given the additional federal dollars provided for that purpose, a report argues.
Education
People in the News
The Afterschool Alliance has hired Judy Y. Samelson as its executive director. Ms. Samelson, 50, has been the group's acting director since 1999. Before joining the alliance, which is based in Flint, Mich., she served as a communications consultant for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a private philanthropy also based in Flint that supports nonprofit programs nationwide.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- Ind. Supreme Court Upholds District Drug Testing
- Piper, Kan., Board Accused of Open-Meetings Breach
- Denver Schools Strengthen Sex-Incident Reporting
- Conn. Elementary School to Keep North Korean Flag
- Los Angeles Schools Set to Receive Defibrillators
- Safety Concerns in Alaska Prompt Rural School Closing
Education Funding
Civil Rights and Incivility: Trip Sparks Flap in Oakland
Even though a group of Oakland, Calif., high school students has returned from its tour of civil rights landmarks, the story of how the trip almost didn't happen still has the city buzzing.
Assessment
Want to Confirm State Test Scores? It's Complex, But NAEP Can Do It
A new federal law does not explicitly require that results from "the nation's report card" be used as evidence to confirm progress on state tests, but its mandate that all 50 states now take part in the National Assessment of Educational Progress makes such comparisons more likely. Includes "A NAEP Primer."
Law & Courts
Testing the Limits Of School Drug Tests
In a case expected to result in long-awaited guidance for schools nationwide, the Supreme Court is about to take up the constitutionality of a drug-testing policy at an Oklahoma school.
States
Agency Looks for Balance Policing ESEA
The Department of Education will try to strike a delicate balance as it seeks to translate the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into reality: offering states and districts a proper measure of latitude without compromising core elements of the law.
Education
Fleshing Out the ESEA
The Department of Education has begun to craft the rules and guidelines needed for carrying out the general requirements embedded in the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act. As required by the esea, a collaborative "negotiated rulemaking" process will help hammer out the rules for standards and testing under Title I. Below is a timeline for a few of the key actions the department is undertaking. The dates may be subject to change.
Education
Charting Gaps and Gains
The following charts compare the mathematics performance on NAEP of 4th graders eligible and inligible for free school lunches in "State A" between 1996 and 2000.
The first chart shows that the performance of both groups has improved during that time across the entire range of test-takers, because both curves have moved to the right. The second chart shows that the achievement gap between the two groups also has narrowed. For example, the gap between students at the 30th percentile decreased from 26 points in 1996 to 20 points in 2000.
Curriculum
Acting on Impulse
In response to a school shooting, Playwright William Mastrosimone stayed up all night to write "Bang Bang You're Dead." Performed thousands of times by students, it's now the basis of a movie. Mastrosimone's message: Only kids can stop the killing.
School & District Management
Rural Schools See Problems Meeting ESEA Rules
The "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001 will bring new money to rural schools, and more ways to use the money. But the new law will likely do little to solve key problems in rural schools, such as difficulties in teacher hiring and training, rural school experts say.
The "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001 will bring new money to rural schools, and more ways to use the money. But the new law will likely do little to solve key problems in rural schools, such as difficulties in teacher hiring and training, rural school experts say.
Teaching
Volunteer Plan Should Tap K-12 Students, Advocates Say
President Bush's recent call for Americans to devote 4,000 lifetime hours to volunteer work could inspire a stream of people to offer their services at schools across the country. But some service-learning advocates say the plan falls short on enlisting a large population of potential volunteers: K-12 students.
Education
Federal File
Guiding Missive
Maybe it was just an oversight.But the omission last month of civil rights language in a draft "guidance" document from the Department of Education elicited a stern response from 30 education, labor, religious, and civil rights groups.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Administration Looks to Boost Summer-Meals Participation
- Fund for Afghan Children Now at $3.7 Million
- Agency Backs Special Education Study