December 13, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 15
Education Funding
Case Studies Advise Funders on Making Grants Effective
The group Grantmakers for Education has issued five case studies that showcase what it considers exemplary giving strategies to help donors better ensure their grants make a difference in schools.
Education Funding
School Turnaround Teams Receive Aid in Calif., N.C.
The Gates Foundation has announced awards in an emerging area of its grantmaking: state efforts to turn around low-performing schools and districts.
Education Funding
Gates Foundation to Close Up 50 Years After Trustees’ Deaths
Seeking cash for educational innovations from the world’s largest private philanthropy? Better hurry up. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation won’t be around forever.
Education Funding
Heads of Fake Fund Found to Be Guilty of Cheating Schools
A father and his son were convicted last week of 33 felony counts in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis for defrauding school districts nationwide of more than $600 million.
Law & Courts
State Courts Side With Charters
Charter school advocates in Colorado and Ohio recently got some welcome legal news.
Education
People in the News
Jacquelyn Thompson and Mabrey Whetstone
Jacquelyn Thompson and Mabrey Whetstone are now serving as the president and the president-elect, respectively, for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.
Education
People in the News
Fred Frelow, Steven M. Gluckstern, N. Gerry House, Pedro Noguera
Fred Frelow, Steven M. Gluckstern, N. Gerry House, and Pedro Noguera have been elected to the board of directors of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based policy, research, and advocacy organization.
Education
A National Roundup
Miami Board Approves Pact
The Miami-Dade County, Fla., school board last week approved a teachers’ contract that will raise starting salaries to $40,000 in the final year of the three-year agreement.
Education
A National Roundup
Pediatricians’ Group Faults Ads as Teaching Unhealthy Behavior
The American Academy of Pediatrics last week issued a revised policy statement outlining what it views as the harmful effects on children and adolescents of television advertising, saying it may contribute significantly to obesity, poor nutrition, and the use of cigarettes and alcohol among young people.
Law & Courts
A National Roundup
Watchdog Sues Ed. Agency Over ‘Reading First’ Files
An organization that monitors ethics in the federal government filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings for their failure to release documents related to the Reading First initiative.
Law & Courts
A National Roundup
Native Hawaiian School Wins Federal Court Battle Over Admissions Criteria
A full federal appeals court ruled last week that the Kamehameha Schools, a private school system in Hawaii that was founded to serve Native Hawaiian children, can continue its 120-year-old policy of offering preference in admissions to Native Hawaiians.
Education
St. Louis Schools Get Low Grades
While a state-appointed task force weighs options for dealing with leadership turmoil in the St. Louis public schools, opinion in the city appears to be solidly in favor of some form of state intervention.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Ignoring Poverty’s Effect on Urban Science Scores?
"Urban Students Fold Under Basic Science" (Nov. 29, 2006) reports that 10 urban districts were low scorers in science on a 2005 version of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and suggests that national standards and teacher incentives may be possible solutions.
Education
Letter to the Editor
‘Reading First’ Criteria: Which Quote Is Right?
G. Reid Lyon's Nov. 15, 2006, letter to the editor describes a process of altering the federal No Child Left Behind Act’s efficacy criteria for materials that is somewhat different from what he described that process to be earlier this year.
Education
Report Roundup
Video Games
Teenagers who play violent video games may display increased activity in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal, according to research from the Indiana University School of Medicine, located in Indianapolis.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Try to Explain Proficiency and Equity to the Media
"‘Proficiency for All’ Is an Oxymoron" (Commentary, Nov. 29, 2006) is indispensable reading for reporters and commentators who write about education because they are in a unique position to shape public opinion.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Report Roundup
Internet’s Educational Value
While about eight of every 10 students under age 18 responding to a survey said they believe using the Internet is very important for their schoolwork, most of the parents surveyed said they had not seen any improvement in their children’s grades since they began using the Internet at home, a report says.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Weighted-Funding Essay Mixes Slogans, Substance
The critique by Bruce Baker and Michael A. Rebell of our publication on weighted-student funding, “Fund the Child,” mischaracterizes our arguments ("Robbing Peter to Pay Paul," Commentary, Nov. 29, 2006).
English-Language Learners
Report Roundup
Research Report: English-Language Learners
English-language learners have limited access to some of the 186 small high schools that are part of a small-schools initiative launched by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in the New York City school system, says a report by two immigrant-advocacy groups.
Education
Report Roundup
Education and the Economy
Increasing the number of high school graduates could reap big economic benefits for the United States, a policy brief by the Alliance for Excellent Education says.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Research Report: Charter Schools
A new report examines how low- to moderate-income parents decide to send their children to public charter schools, and challenges what it suggests are some stereotypes about their decisionmaking.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
School Violent Crimes Decline, Report Says
The rate of violent crimes that occurred at public schools during the 2004-05 school year fell from a year earlier, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
Education
Events
10-12—Independent schools: SAIS-NAIS Winter Retreat, sponsored by the Southern Association of Independent Schools, for independent school leaders with financial responsibilities, at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta. Contact: Lisa Dixon, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033; (404) 633-2203; fax: (404) 633-2433; e-mail: lisa@sais.org.
January
10-12—Independent schools: SAIS-NAIS Winter Retreat, sponsored by the Southern Association of Independent Schools, for independent school leaders with financial responsibilities, at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta. Contact: Lisa Dixon, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033; (404) 633-2203; fax: (404) 633-2433; e-mail: lisa@sais.org.
School & District Management
Opinion
America’s Million-Dollar Superintendents
J.H. Snider, a former school board member in Vermont and research director at the New America Foundation, writes that it's time for public schools’ financial statements to start looking more like the statements of public companies.
Education Funding
Lawmakers See Schools as Top Priority, Despite Fiscal Jitters
Most states report that funding for public schools will be their top priority—and their most significant source of long-term financial pressure—in 2007, according to a 50-state survey released recently by the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.
Curriculum
Study Questions Role Math, Science Play in Nation’s GDP
A study of more than three dozen countries, including the United States, challenges the popular belief that superior student achievement on international mathematics and science tests breeds national economic success.