September 20, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 04
Families & the Community
Opinion
Straddling a Cultural Chasm
Lisa M. Weinbaum writes that it is a teacher's obligation to foster empowering relationships within all households, and doing anything less undermines the family unit and the success of educators.
School Choice & Charters
Turbulent Charter Conversion in Colo. Spurs Call for Change
Colorado’s closely watched effort to forcibly convert a low-performing Denver school into a charter school has been rocky, but early indicators suggest that Cole College Prep may be better off for the change, a new study concludes.
School & District Management
Harvard’s Drop of Early Admissions Fuels National Debate
Spurred by a desire to make its undergraduate admissions process more fair for disadvantaged students, Harvard University announced last week that it plans to eliminate its early-admission program, which allowed some students to find out whether they were accepted several months before others.
Federal
Opinion
Beyond No Child Left Behind
The battle over reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act will dominate education policymaking for at least the coming year, perhaps longer, writes Thomas Sobol, a former state commissioner of education for New York. But there are issues that will affect children’s education long after NCLB has had its day, Mr. Sobol states, and they should not be neglected now.
Law & Courts
N.H. Court Strikes Down School Aid System
New Hampshire’s school finance saga took a new turn this month, when the state supreme court struck down the funding system and threatened to step in if legislators failed to fix it by next summer.
Federal
Students Displaced by Storms Score Lower on State Tests
Gulf Coast students who were displaced to other states last year by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita scored significantly lower on state tests than their peers in those new states, according to data released by several states that took in large numbers of such students.
Recruitment & Retention
N.C. District Lures New Math Teachers With $10,000 Bonus
The Guilford County, N.C., school district has joined with a coalition of local foundations to offer an incentive program designed to lure some top-flight math teachers to eight of the district’s low-performing high schools.
Federal
Much-Used Elementary Math Program Gets Qualified Nod From U.S. Ed. Dept.
A popular K-6 math curriculum has shown promise for improving student achievement but needs more thorough study before it can be declared effective, a federal research center reported last week.
States
States Given Guidance on Online Teaching, E-School Costs
With K-12 participation in online learning rapidly expanding, two reports from the Southern Education Regional Board lay out a set of standards for online teaching and offer guidelines on the costs of establishing state virtual schools.
Teaching Profession
Detroit Teachers, District Strike Deal to Open Schools
After 16 days on the picket lines, teachers in Detroit returned to their schools at the end of last week, ending a period of intense uncertainty and chaos for the already-troubled district.
Education
Events
18-19—Instruction: Supervising Differentiated Instruction, sponsored by the New England League of Middle Schools, for middle-level educators, at Woodbury Middle School in Woodbury, Conn. Contact: Valerie Kacian, 460 Boston St., Suite 4, Topsfield, MA 01983; (978) 887-6263; fax: (978) 887-6504; e-mail: vrkacian@nelms.org; Web site: www.nelms.org.
October
18-19—Instruction: Supervising Differentiated Instruction, sponsored by the New England League of Middle Schools, for middle-level educators, at Woodbury Middle School in Woodbury, Conn. Contact: Valerie Kacian, 460 Boston St., Suite 4, Topsfield, MA 01983; (978) 887-6263; fax: (978) 887-6504; e-mail: vrkacian@nelms.org; Web site: www.nelms.org.
School & District Management
Where Big-City Schools Meet ‘Microsoft Smarts’
A gleaming white building on the edge of a blighted West Philadelphia neighborhood, the $62 million school garnered wide attention when it opened this month, in part because of its technological bells and whistles. Those futuristic features include a tablet personal computer for each student, interactive digital whiteboards, a supercharged wireless network, customized educational software, and digital “smart cards” to open lockers and pay for meals—all making possible a virtually paperless environment.
Families & the Community
Views Differ Over NCLB Rules on Involving Parents
More testing and better teachers have drawn greater attention to the No Child Left Behind Act, but they are not the only means the 4½-year-old law envisions for bringing every child up to academic par by 2014. Involved, informed, and provided with choices, parents—especially poor parents—will help change schools for the better. Or so the law seems to assume.
Equity & Diversity
UCLA Weighs Shift in Admissions Policy
The University of California, Los Angeles, is considering revamping its admissions policy, partly in response to concern over the shrinking number of African-American students enrolling in its freshman class.
Standards
Math Organization Attempts to Bring Focus to Subject
More than 15 years after its publication of influential national standards in mathematics, a leading professional organization has unveiled new, more focused guidelines that describe the crucial skills and content students should master in that subject in elementary and middle school.
International
Reporter's Notebook
Private Sector Backs Projects Around Globe
At a conference hosted Sept. 11-12 in Washington by the Conference Board in collaboration with the Washington-based Academy for Educational Development, representatives of multinational corporations preached the value of investing in education projects around the world.
School Climate & Safety
High-Tech Carts Deployed in Schools Hurt by Storms
Four schools in the Baton Rouge, La., area are to be the first recipients of donated state-of the-art technology packages this week as a part of an initiative to upgrade or replace the technology infrastructure of Gulf Coast schools affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Education
Report Roundup
Language Identity
Spanish-speakers who move to this country do not threaten the United States’ English-speaking identity, concludes a study in the September issue of the Population Council journal Population and Development Review.
Education
Report Roundup
School Reform
While there is no blueprint for the right way to carry out improvements in education, those undertaking changes should study successful models as a key to achieving their intended reforms, a multimedia report by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights recommends.
Education
Report Roundup
Wars Take Toll on Education
Armed conflict is one of the biggest reasons that 115 million children in the world are not attending primary school, according to a report by Save the Children.
Education
People in the News
Jacqueline E. Turner
Jacqueline E. Turner has been appointed the executive director of communications for the Minneapolis public schools.
Education
People in the News
Jo Lynne DeMary
Jo Lynne DeMary has been hired as the director of the Commonwealth Education Policy Institute’s Center for School Improvement, at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Education
People in the News
Diana Wyllie Rigden
Diana Wyllie Rigden has been named the vice president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council, based in Washington.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
GAO: International Agency Short on American Employees
Americans are an underrepresented group among the employees of three United Nations agencies, including the Paris-based UNESCO, the Government Accountability Office reported.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Bill Would Protect Searches by Teachers
Three Republican members of Congress have introduced a bill designed to make it easier for teachers to search lockers and students on public school grounds for drugs, weapons, and other dangerous materials.
Curriculum
Role of Classroom Materials Debated After 9/11 TV Flap
A flap over classroom materials tied to a controversial TV drama marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has renewed discussion about the obligations of educational publishers when they partner with entertainment companies to produce teaching aids.
Federal
Federal File
New Year, New Grants
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings used her keynote speech last week at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conference to highlight two new federal grant programs aimed at helping students from low-income families pay for college and encouraging them to major in mathematics, science, and other high-need areas.
School & District Management
Power Shift on L.A. Schools Called Complex
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has won his hard-fought political battle to gain partial control over Los Angeles’ public schools, but securing meaningful reforms in classrooms is likely to prove far more difficult for the charismatic politician, experts say.
Education
Correction
Corrections
An article in the Sept. 6, 2006, issue of Education Week ("Teachers Tiptoe Into Delicate Topics of 9/11 and Iraq") on instructional materials related to terrorism incorrectly stated where Brian Fenderson teaches. Cascade High School is in Turner, Ore.