July 18, 2007
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 43
Education
Letter to the Editor
Knowing Is Not Liking
Readers weigh in on ETS poll of ‘No Child Left Behind’ attitudes.
Education Funding
Grants
Grants
The NEA Foundation recently announced the winners of its Summer 2007 Student Achievement grants and Learning & Leadership grants.
Education
Letter to the Editor
On NCLB Progress and the Need for National Standards
It is true, to quote the title of a June 6, 2007, article, that "State Tests Show Gains Since NCLB," but the real question is whether the No Child Left Behind Act has made a difference.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Religious Charter Schools: An Inaccurate Portrayal?
In their June 20, 2007, Commentary, Lawrence D.Weinberg and Bruce S. Cooper argue that the time is right to establish religious charter schools.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Bringing Education Research Into the New Century
We understand why Ronald A. Wolk titled his perceptive Commentary “Education Research Could Improve Schools, But Probably Won’t.”
Education
Events
August
17-18—Instruction: High/Scope Regional Conference, sponsored by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, for educators, administrators, researchers, support staff, policymakers, and students, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Contact: Marianne McDonnell, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 600 N. River St., Ypsilanti, MI 48198; (734) 485-2000; fax: (734) 485-4467; e-mail: mmcdonnell@highscope.org; Web site: www.highscope.org.
17-18—Instruction: High/Scope Regional Conference, sponsored by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, for educators, administrators, researchers, support staff, policymakers, and students, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Contact: Marianne McDonnell, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 600 N. River St., Ypsilanti, MI 48198; (734) 485-2000; fax: (734) 485-4467; e-mail: mmcdonnell@highscope.org; Web site: www.highscope.org.
Education Funding
Maine Consolidations Top Legislative Actions
Legislators approved a new law that calls for paring the state’s 290 school districts down to about 80 through mergers and consolidations.
Education Funding
New Hampshire Requiring Kindergarten to Be Offered
All but 13 of 153 districts in the state now provide kindergarten, and three have kindergarten programs in the works, according to the state education department.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Court Asked to Fine Arizona in ELL Case
A lawyer for plaintiffs in a federal court case involving English-language learners in Arizona has asked the court to fine the state for missing a deadline.
Education Funding
Nevada Pilot Program Offers Greater Flexibility for Schools
The Empowerment Schools program will give schools freedom in how they spend money, design instruction, and plan their schedules as a way to improve student achievement.
Education Funding
Preschool, Math, Free Tuition Get More Funds in Delaware
In K-12 education, lawmakers allocated $1.9 million to fully finance all-day kindergarten in the 2008-09 school year and $2.7 million to place math specialists in middle schools.
Education Funding
Lawmakers Boost Pay for Teachers, OK New Programs
The Arizona legislature appropriated $45 million to increase teachers’ salaries this coming school year.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
‘Intelligent Design’ Supporter to Be NASBE’s President-Elect
Kenneth Willard, a member of the Kansas state school board, has been chosen as president-elect of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
School & District Management
Acting Texas Chief Off to Rocky Start
About the same time that Shirley Neeley, the head of the Texas Education Agency, handed over the reins to then-Chief Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott this summer, he was faced with a storm of questions regarding his handling of contracts and grants, prompted by a report from the agency’s inspector general that was leaked to the news media.
School & District Management
Boston Relieved to Snag Leader for Schools
Carol R. Johnson is expected to officially begin work in Boston next month.
States
State Guidance on English-Language Learners Lags
Most states have yet to give local school districts assistance in how to translate English-language proficiency standards into a curriculum.
Education
People in the News
Daphne Northrop
Daphne Northrop has been named the director of communications for the Newton, Mass.-based Education Development Center.
Education
People in the News
Ariela L. Rozman
Ariela L. Rozman is the new chief executive officer of the New York City-based New Teacher Project.
Education
People in the News
Matthew Kramer
Matthew Kramer has become the president of New York City-based Teach For America.
Education
Letter to the Editor
On Virtual Schooling, a Key Question Is, ‘Who Benefits?’
I am baffled about virtual schools and the real intent of this new learning format for K-9 students, presumably within their regular school day.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Who Is the Royal ‘We’ in Reform Prescriptions?
What person in schooling is accountable for responding to that all-inclusive scope and nature, and also has the power to envision and support “good teaching”? What “simple, direct actions” can he or she take to “make schools vastly better, and more relevant and engaging”?
Education
Letter to the Editor
Cheating Will Be Curbed When Only Performance Matters
Kristi L. Mann appropriately raises concerns about grading and cheating in her recent Commentary. Educators need to listen to what her students are telling her.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Group Aims to Amend NCLB to Better Aid Failing Schools
To the Editor:
I was very pleased to read that a central question in the debate over renewal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act has become how to amend the law to aid failing schools ("Turnarounds Central Issue Under NCLB," June 20, 2007). That is a key question that an alliance of national education, civil rights, disability, religious, civic, and labor organizations has been addressing over the last three years.
I was very pleased to read that a central question in the debate over renewal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act has become how to amend the law to aid failing schools ("Turnarounds Central Issue Under NCLB," June 20, 2007). That is a key question that an alliance of national education, civil rights, disability, religious, civic, and labor organizations has been addressing over the last three years.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Laying the Foundation for a New Segregation System
Relaxing accountability under No Child Left Behind for English-learners, as Mr. Crawford suggests, would lay a dangerous foundation for a new, federally sponsored segregation system.
Education
Letter to the Editor
KIPP, Public Schools, and the Mission of Education
If you dismiss students because of learning needs or commitment, clearly you are not serving every student.
Education Funding
Missouri Lawmakers Continue to Deliver on Increased Funding
The increase, part of a $21.5 billion state budget for fiscal 2008, marks the second year Missouri has made good on a seven-year plan to phase in a new funding formula for K-12 schools.
Education Funding
Connecticut Special Session Yields K-12 Funding Increase
The following offers highlights of the recent legislative sessions. Precollegiate enrollment figures are based on fall 2006 data reported by state officials for public elementary and secondary schools. The figures for precollegiate education spending do not include federal flow-through funds, unless noted.
Education Funding
Oregon Schools Feast After Famine in Funding
“It was a great bump for us—the most funding we’ve had in a decade,” said Susanne Smith, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Education.
Education Funding
Aid Level Remains Flat Despite Governor’s Push
If there was any solace to be found in the numbers, said Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker William J. Murphy, it is that education could have fared worse.