September 28, 2005
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 05
School & District Management
Md. Panel Urges Merit Pay, Other Policy Changes
Maryland’s latest bid to improve its schools includes proposals to adopt a statewide pay-for-performance system for teachers, enact a stronger charter school law, and begin a program of school ratings.
Science
Companies Unveil Projects to Improve Math, Science Learning
Two multinational companies have announced plans to donate millions of dollars—and, in one case, encourage some of its own employees to become teachers—to help American students stack up better in mathematics and science against students from China, India, and other fast-developing nations.
Federal
Spellings Drafts Panel to Study Higher Education
Citing a need for a more focused policy approach to education at the college and university level, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the formation of a commission last week to draw up a “comprehensive national strategy” on the future of higher education.
Student Well-Being
Calif. Says ‘No’ to School Junk-Food Sales
California students won’t be sipping sugary sodas or munching on chips during school hours much longer, thanks to a new statewide ban on certain snacks and beverages in schools.
Federal
Business Leaders Call for More Cooperation in K-12 Giving Efforts
Concerned about increasing competition in the global marketplace—particularly from China and India—leaders from business, education, government, and the nonprofit sector called last week for combining their K-12 education efforts to better prepare students for the workplace.
School & District Management
Research Group Taps Former Chiefs as Consultants
When the state of Ohio was looking for a practical, roll-up-the-shirt-sleeves strategist to turn around the academically troubled Mansfield city school district last year, it turned to … the American Institutes for Research?
Federal
Union-Funded Study Finds Fault With High-Stakes Testing
New research contending that current accountability pressures have yielded no real achievement gains touched off another round of skirmishing last week over the reliability of a series of union-financed studies criticizing high-stakes testing.
Education
Report Roundup
Math and Science
While the United States is seeing a decline in the number of science- and math-oriented college graduates, the report says, nearly one-fourth of the nation’s black graduates in math and science come from historically black colleges in the South.
Curriculum
Report Roundup
Teacher Pay
Produced by the Education Trust West, the Oakland, Calif.-based affiliate of the Education Trust, a national research and advocacy organization based in Washington, the study examines teacher pay in 12 districts in California. For example, within the 43,000-student Oakland Unified district, teachers at Lockwood Elementary School, which educates mostly Latino, African-American, and low-income students, are paid an average of $8,049 less per year than teachers at Thornhill Elementary, where the percentages of low-income and minority students are much lower.
Education
Report Roundup
College Readiness
The study’s authors recommend that states institute K-16 improvements by addressing four policy areas: assessment and curricula, finance, data systems, and accountability. Their conclusions are based on case studies in Florida, Georgia, New York, and Oregon.
Education
Report Roundup
Sexual Behavior
The survey—produced by the Hyattsville, Md.-based National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta—found that among 15- to 19-year-olds, 55 percent of males and 54 percent of females said they had had oral sex. In that same age group, 36 percent of males and 39 percent of females reported having had vaginal intercourse.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Technology Spending Correlated With AYP
School districts that met the requirements for adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act during the 2004-05 school year spent more on technology than school districts that did not meet the requirements, a survey has found.
Student Well-Being
H.S. Athletes Seen as Having Leg Up
Former high school athletes who were team captains or the most valuable players in their sports are more likely to have a college degree, earn a higher income, and remain more physically active than their nonathletic classroom peers, according to a study released this month.
Federal
Teachers From Alternate Routes Scrutinized
New research findings provide fresh fodder for debates over whether teachers who skip traditional education school training are more demographically diverse than their colleagues, and whether they provide special expertise in math or science.
School Climate & Safety
School Uses Donations for Extreme Makeover
Tired of the decrepit state of their teachers’ lounges and workrooms, two staff members at Githens Middle School in Durham, N.C., decided it was time for an extreme makeover.
Education Funding
Developers Help Pay for Colorado Schools
A Colorado Springs, Colo., school district has gotten a big financial boost from housing developers as it struggles to build new schools for the students the developments are bringing to the area.
Curriculum
Parents Fight H.S. Boundaries
Michael Winsten, who is fighting a voluntary-integration plan in a California school district, says some people think the parents in his group are “not-in-my-backyard type of people” and don’t want their children to mix with children of other racial or ethnic backgrounds.
School & District Management
Death of Feldman, AFT’s Former President, Mourned
Labor leaders, government officials, and educators last week mourned the death of Sandra Feldman, who headed the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union until cancer forced her into retirement in 2004. She died Sept. 18 at the age of 65.
School & District Management
Norfolk, Va., Wins Urban Education Prize
The Norfolk, Va., school district won the Broad Prize in Urban Education last week for its outsized progress in improving achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority children.
Reading & Literacy
National Clout of DIBELS Test Draws Scrutiny
Just a few years ago, a set of tests known as “dibbles” would have elicited little more than a chuckle from educators or anyone else. Today, they’re taking it seriously, because the acronym DIBELS has come to symbolize the standard for early-literacy assessment throughout much of the country.
Education
People in the News
Joseph S. Brosnan
Mr. Brosnan, 59, is the vice president for strategic planning and external affairs for the college, located in New York City. He is a former president of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C.
Education
People in the News
James Demery
In his position, Mr. Demery, 43, will design experimental research studies for SRA’s products, including Open Court Reading, Kaleidoscope, Real Math, and Direct Instruction.
Education
People in the News
Aaron P. Dworkin
Mr. Dworkin, 35, is the only precollegiate educator from the group of 25 winners who earned the MacArthur fellowships this year. He is the president of the Sphinx Organization, which works to enhance music education in schools and promotes the participation of African-Americans and Latinos in classical-music programs.
Curriculum
A National Roundup
Bible-Literacy Project Offers Textbook for High Schools
The Bible Literacy Project, an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit organization that works to encourage the academic study of the Bible in public schools, unveiled a high school textbook last week designed to meet constitutional standards for use in public schools.
School & District Management
A National Roundup
Chicago Mayor Unveils Plan to Improve City’s High Schools
The Chicago school district announced an initiative last week to improve the city’s high schools that will include three new instructional models for core subjects.
Special Education
Best Evidence
School districts and parents disagree over students’ special education plans all the time. Next week, one such case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Curriculum
A National Roundup
AFT Revokes Affiliate Status of Puerto Rico Teachers’ Union
The American Federation of Teachers has given up trying to hold on to what had been its 32,000-member affiliate in Puerto Rico.
School Choice & Charters
A National Roundup
Mass. Officials, Charter School in Standoff Over Shutdown Order
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly is asking a judge to force a Boston charter school to close.
Federal
Opinion
Constitution Day Revisited
Stephen Chiger states that the new Consititution Day mandate promotes the idea that a day of classes can solve a national education crisis.