January 7, 2009
Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 16
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Abstinence Education
Teenagers who took virginity pledges had sex at around the same age, and had the same number of sexual partners, as demographically similar teens who did not take such pledges, according to a study published this month in Pediatrics.
College & Workforce Readiness
The Four-Year Plan
Alabama was the first state to require students to take four credits in each subject to graduate, and schools are responding in different ways.
Science
Scientists Delve Into Public Education
A visit to the campus of a newly built research center in Huntsville, Ala., offers a glimpse of the state’s economic heritage and, quite possibly, its economic future.
Science
Alabama Lends Math, Science Resources
Giving schools access to classroom materials and supplying them with seasoned teachers are core elements of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative.
Education Funding
Funding Formula, Increased K-12 Aid Top Actions in N.J.
Even in an austere budget year, the Garden State found the funds to give precollegiate education a boost.
Education Funding
Pennsylvania Sets New K-12 Formula, Boosts Budget
As other states cut back on education spending in the darkening economy of 2008, Pennsylvania produced a budget that delivered the biggest increase in two decades.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Students Turn Their Cellphones On for Classroom Lessons
New educational uses of cellphones are challenging the bans many districts have adopted to prevent students from using the wireless devices on campus.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Providing More 'Playtime' With Engaging Materials
To the Editor:
As a family physician, a science teacher, and the author of a science program designed for 1st and 2nd graders, I wanted to respond to the article "Children's Lack of Playtime Seen as Troubling Health, School Issue" (Dec. 3, 2008).
As a family physician, a science teacher, and the author of a science program designed for 1st and 2nd graders, I wanted to respond to the article "Children's Lack of Playtime Seen as Troubling Health, School Issue" (Dec. 3, 2008).
Education
Letter to the Editor
Merrow Commentary Reminds Us of an 'Obvious But Overlooked Truth'
To the Editor:
I would like to add my voice to John Merrow's Commentary "Reclaiming America, One 1st Grader at a Time" (Dec. 3, 2008).
I would like to add my voice to John Merrow's Commentary "Reclaiming America, One 1st Grader at a Time" (Dec. 3, 2008).
Education
Letter to the Editor
On TIMSS: U.S. Students 'Do Better in Real World'
To the Editor:
You don't have to be an apologist for public schools in this country to realize that the distinctions Mark Schneider makes in his recent online Commentary between the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Program for International Student Assessment, while technically accurate, have little practical significance ("Reading the TIMSS Results," edweek.org, Dec. 9, 2008). Test scores on both instruments easily allow countries around the globe to be ranked, but these results can hardly be construed as convincing evidence of America's inability to compete in the new global economy.
You don't have to be an apologist for public schools in this country to realize that the distinctions Mark Schneider makes in his recent online Commentary between the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Program for International Student Assessment, while technically accurate, have little practical significance ("Reading the TIMSS Results," edweek.org, Dec. 9, 2008). Test scores on both instruments easily allow countries around the globe to be ranked, but these results can hardly be construed as convincing evidence of America's inability to compete in the new global economy.
Federal
Federal File
Inaugural Pilgrims, Lodging Squeeze
School groups will have a chance to see history unfold in person as Barack Obama is sworn in as president on Jan. 20—though finding a place to stay in Washington may prove as elusive as a clear view of the inauguration.
School & District Management
States Team for High School Makeover With Eye Toward '21st-Century Skills'
A consortium of four states will try to reinvent secondary schools at the practical and policy levels.
School & District Management
News in Brief
L.A. District Changes Management
Ramon C. Cortines, a veteran urban schools chief, was set to take over the nation's second-largest school district Jan. 1 under a three-year contract.
Education
News in Brief
Ohio District Feeds Students Over Break
An Ohio school district says the economy is so tight it has kept its cafeterias open during the holiday break to provide hot lunches for needy students.
Education
Correction
Corrections
An article in the Dec. 3, 2008, issue of Education Week about the Brownsville Independent School District should have said that in 2006 the Texas district failed to make adequate yearly progress in reading for special education students. It made all other AYP goals that year.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Mo. High Court Upholds St. Louis Takeover:
The Missouri supreme court has affirmed the state takeover of the St. Louis school system.
Education
News in Brief
Detroit Board Fires Superintendent, Plans to Fight State Manager
The Detroit school board has fired Superintendent Connie Calloway, blaming her for the pending appointment of a state financial overseer because of the district's estimated $408 million deficit.
School & District Management
News in Brief
New Leaders Group to Train Charlotte, N.C., Principals
New Leaders for New Schools, a national nonprofit organization that recruits and grooms principals to serve in high-poverty schools, will begin training leaders in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., district this summer.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Calif. Judge Blocks Requirement For 8th Graders to Take Algebra
A California judge has blocked a state mandate that would have required students to take and be tested in introductory algebra in 8th grade.
Federal
News in Brief
Ed. Dept. Releases New Rules on Privacy
The U.S. Department of Education has released regulations for the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act that are set to take effect Jan. 8. The new rules seek to reassure school officials who wish to share private student information because they believe it is necessary to prevent a health or safety emergency.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case on Religious Messages
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal on behalf of a Michigan student who sought to distribute Christian messages to his fellow public school students as part of a school assignment.
Standards
Pressure for International Benchmarks Builds
Other nations’ methods may help shape policy, influential groups argue.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Preparation for College
Students' academic performance in 8th grade predicts whether they are prepared for college and the workplace—even more so than their high school coursework or family background, a study concludes.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Scientists Track Poverty's Links to Cognition
The brains of children who are living in poverty function differently from those of children living in better circumstances, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Computers and Learning
Students who gain access to an Internet-equipped computer at home between the 5th and 8th grades often experience a decline in reading and mathematics scores, says a paper written by three researchers at Duke University.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Beginning Reading
The What Works Clearinghouse recently posted research reviews on Houghton Mifflin's Invitations to Literacy and Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Algebra Teaching
If California's new algebra-teaching mandate is eventually implemented, the state will have a hard time preparing every 8th grader to pass that course, according to a report on the state's teacher workforce.
Curriculum
Academic Relevance Becomes Top Priority For W.Va. Educators
Many of West Virginia’s educators are trying to tie them back to local communities by requiring students to present their work before decisionmakers.
Professional Development
'21st-Century Skills' Focus Shifts W.Va. Teachers' Role
As states increasingly emphasize the teaching of "content in application," teachers are no longer the purveyors of facts, but the facilitators of elaborate activities.