May 22, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 37
States
State Candidates Fine-Tune School Rhetoric for Fall Runs
Candidates for governor will be sharpening education platforms on the campaign trail in the coming months, as voters in more than half the states prepare to go to the polls this year to choose new state executives. Includes the chart, "Contests for Governor."
Candidates for governor will be sharpening education platforms on the campaign trail in the coming months, as voters in more than half the states prepare to go to the polls this year to choose new state executives. Includes the chart, "Contests for Governor."
Curriculum
Textbook Publishers Venture Into Staff-Development Frontier
Educators across the country will soon have access to a program designed by some top reading experts that will help them refine their teaching strategies.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Ed. Dept. Announces 'Reading First' Panel
- Student-Loan Hearing Stirs Partisan Debate
Federal
Ed. Dept. Weighs Changing Blue Ribbon Program
The Department of Education is making final plans to overhaul the popular Blue Ribbon Schools awards program, transforming it into an honor for schools that improve test scores, especially among minority students.
Education Funding
As Deficit Mounts, Davis Tries To Spare Schools
Gov. Gray Davis proposed new taxes and cuts in a revised budget plan for California last week that attempts to protect schools while managing a deficit that has surpassed $23 billion.
Teacher Preparation
Illinois Bill Stiffens Testing Rules For Aspiring Teachers
The Illinois legislature has approved a proposal that would require most aspiring teachers to pass a basic-skills test before entering colleges' teacher education programs, a standard that could set one of the earliest such deadlines in the country.
Standards
Science Standards Have Yet To Seep Into Class, Panel Says
The national science education standards have been the basis for state curriculum decisions, textbook publishers' new materials, and school districts' choices for professional development, says a panel of researchers.
Curriculum
Research Underscores Need For Tough Courses
Most students would benefit from taking more rigorous and challenging courses in high school, according to a set of papers presented here last week at a conference on the American high school.
School Choice & Charters
Charters in Some Cities Attract Students From Catholic Schools
To Danni Brown, a 6th grader at the St. Louis Charter School here, the difference between the school she now goes to and St. Ambrose School, the Roman Catholic school she attended previously, is as clear as day.
Education
Private Management
Here is a list of top for-profit managers of charter schools, ranked by the number of charter schools they operate.
School Climate & Safety
U.S. Agencies Release Details From School Violence Research
The U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education have released details of a new report and training guide that will conclude three years of study on the phenomenon of school shootings.
School Choice & Charters
Millionaire Industrialist Touts 'White Hat' Firm To Build Charter Model
David L. Brennan wants to rescue America's children from failing schools. He also wants to make money doing it.
Law & Courts
Appeals Court Allows Use of Race In Michigan Law School Admissions
In a case that could reverberate on college campuses nationwide—and possibly in K-12 classrooms—a sharply divided federal appeals court has backed the University of Michigan law school's right to use race as a factor in its admissions policy.
School & District Management
Up Close and Personal
Bucking the national craze for large-scale testing, the Lincoln, Neb., district focuses its efforts on classroom-based assessments. Includes resources.
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- N.Y.C. to Add 3 Schools With Entrance Exams
- Cafeteria Worker Charged With Locking Boy in Freezer
- United Nations' Special Session Produces Plan for Children
- Judge Bars Iowa School's Choir From Singing Hymn at Graduation
- Parents Sue Over Quota at Georgia Charter School
- L.A. Police Department to Shrink School Drug-Prevention Program
- Death
Education
Contests for Governor
The fall will be a busy campaign season in the 36 states where governorships are up for election. Sixteen incumbents are expected to seek re-election. Fifteen governors are barred by term limits from running again, while five others have decided not to run. This map shows the status of the gubernatorial races.
Education
State Responses to NAACP Call
The following 28 states have responded to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's "Call for Action in Education" by submitting plans or letters identifying strategies they will implement or are now using to eradicate racial inequities in their schools, including factors that contribute to academic-achievement gaps. The NAACP has pledged to assist these states with their plans.
Special Education
Special Education's Orbit
When Mike Kersjes, a high school special education teacher and football coach, read in 1987 a magazine article about Space Camp, he knew his students would love to go. Located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., the camp allows students to spend six days training and living like astronauts. But Mr. Kersjes and his co-teacher, Robynn McKinney, knew they faced a major obstacle: The program had been designed for gifted and talented students. A group of special education students had never before participated.
Law & Courts
Seattle Student Survey's Race Questions Stir Controversy
Many schools in the Seattle district have decided to destroy the answer sheets from a recent student survey, after some parents and teachers raised objections about the nature of several questions.
Education
Close Up: Candidates' Votes Count With Public
Simply calling oneself an "education candidate" is apparently no longer good enough to get elected. That's one of the findings of a poll recently commissioned by the Public Education Network and Education Week.
Curriculum
Arts Programs Enhance Some Skills, Study Says
Studying the arts in school may help strengthen children's academic and social skills that can, in turn, aid them in learning other subjects, concludes a new review of arts education studies. The review found arts education particularly beneficial for young children and those who are economically disadvantaged or struggling academically.
School & District Management
Miami-Dade Board OKs Tougher Ethics Policies
The Miami-Dade County school board has adopted more stringent rules of ethics for conducting its business, a move designed to restore public confidence after a bruising year of disclosures about inappropriate spending by the panel and the district's former superintendent.
Education
People in the News
T.J. Elliott was recently appointed the chief learning officer of the Educational Testing Service. Mr. Elliott, 50, previously served as the director of research and consulting design for Cavanaugh Leahy and Co., an organizational-consulting firm based in White Plains, N.Y. The Educational Testing Service, a private, nonprofit testing organization based in Princeton, N.J., administers more than 11 million tests annually in 181 countries, including the sat college-entrance exam.
Education
Retrospective
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to school employees as well as students; a West Virginia trial judge orders the state to provide the money to lift all schools to specific educational standards; the Alaska board of education has endorsed a concept to recognize "local diversity" for a statewide school-improvement plan; and more.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to school employees as well as students; a West Virginia trial judge orders the state to provide the money to lift all schools to specific educational standards; the Alaska board of education has endorsed a concept to recognize "local diversity" for a statewide school-improvement plan; and more.
Education
Take Note
A Real Barnburner
When a blaze destroyed three historic barns on the Northfield Mount Hermon School campus in Northfield, Mass., the school was determined to rebuild. The 1,150-student college-preparatory school also sought to make the project a lesson in 19th-century construction methods.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Court Leaves Future of Online-Protection Law Uncertain
The U.S. Supreme Court last week partially upheld a federal statute designed to protect children from pornography on the World Wide Web, but its splintered ruling sent the law back to a lower court for further review and left doubt about whether it would ultimately be upheld.