October 21, 2009
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 08
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Data on Schools
Charter schools accounted for only 4 percent of the nation's 98,916 public schools, according to a new federal statistical analysis.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Ohio Charters
A new study by an Ohio think tank suggests that pupils in the state's magnet and charter schools start kindergarten with stronger academic skills than their public school peers.
Education
Report Roundup
High School Dropouts
One in 10 young male high school dropouts are in jail or detention on an average day, according to a new report from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Urban Education
A new report describes some of the progress American cities have made with innovations that improve the lives of children, youth, and families.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
West Virginia Unions Sue Over Plans for Health-Care Changes
Organizations representing West Virginia's teachers and school service personnel are suing to block a state agency's decision to control health-care costs.
Education
Correction
Correction
A story about the federal Striving Readers program in the Oct. 14, 2009, issue of Education Week incorrectly stated the amount of money that each Striving Readers school in Chicago receives annually to put toward its library. The correct amount is $5,000.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Del. District Reduces Penalty for 1st Grader
A Delaware 1st grader who was facing 45 days in an alternative school for taking a camping utensil to school has now been allowed to return to class.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Teacher Learning
A New York City program that enlists middle and high school science teachers to spend two summers working in university research laboratories leads to better passing rates on state exams for students, a study says.
Education
Report Roundup
New York City's Promotion Policy Found to Have Positive Impacts
A 7-year-old school promotion policy in New York City that targets extra help to students at risk of having to repeat a grade is working, a study finds.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Interim Kansas Chief Named
The Kansas state board of education has named Diane DeBacker, a veteran Kansas educator, as the interim commissioner of the state education department.
Special Education
News in Brief
Institute of Education Sciences to Open Three Research Centers
The Institute of Education Sciences has invited applicants to compete to run three new centers focused on different areas of education policy.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Louisiana Education Chief to Offer Incentives to Cut Agency Roster
Paul Pastorek, the Louisiana superintendent of public instruction, says he plans to offer financial incentives to trim the workforce at the state education department.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Pa. Teachers on Strike
Teachers in an eastern Pennsylvania district are on strike for the second time in two years.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Florida Athletic Group to Pay Fees for Parent Suit Over Sports Cuts
The Florida High School Athletic Association will pay $41,200 in legal fees to lawyers for parents who sued over cuts in student sports, according to a settlement agreement.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Conn. Teenager Facing Charges for Posting Threat on Facebook
Police say they arrested a 17-year-old boy after he threatened in a Facebook posting to bring a gun to his high school and start shooting.
Education
News in Brief
Troopers Ride Buses
Texas troopers will ride school buses this week, watching for motorists illegally passing.
School & District Management
News in Brief
House GOP Members Call for Resignation of Safe-Schools Chief
A group of 53 House Republicans has signed a letter to President Barack Obama calling for Kevin Jennings, the head of the office of safe and drug-free schools at the U.S. Department of Education, to resign.
Education Funding
Nevada to Sit Out 'Race to Top' Start
Nevada schools chief Keith Rheault says that state won't apply for the first round of $4 billion in Race to the Top grants because of the state's firewall.
Assessment
NAEP Scores Put Spotlight on Standards
Stagnant elementary results for the first time in two decades are likely to spur policymakers to re-examine math instruction.
Federal
Oral-Language Skills for English-Learners Focus of Researchers
Scholars say students need chances to speak in class and to find a "personal voice" in the new language.
Federal
Graduation Rates Rise in Southern States, Study Finds
Despite gains, more than one in four students in the 16-state region fail to graduate on time, the Southern Regional Education Board finds.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
A Dropout's Guide to Education Reform
High school dropout and recent college graduate J. William Towne says that effective teachers are the key to school improvement.
School & District Management
Opinion
No Success Like Failure?
Russell Gersten looks at why so many of the large-scale evaluations from the federal Institute of Education Sciences have shown "no effects" for experimental studies.
School & District Management
Opinion
An Education Stimulus for the Nation's Cities
The mayors of Indianapolis, Newark, and Nashville call for the creation of more high school options in urban communities.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Calif. 'Curriculum Crisis' May Have a Silver Lining
To the Editor:
California’s “curriculum crisis” may present an opportunity for educators to evaluate the worth of a textbook-adoption system created in 1927 ("California Faces a Curriculum Crisis," Sept. 16, 2009). As a veteran Los Angeles teacher, I wonder whether making experimental revisions to textbooks justifies the enormous expenditures.
California’s “curriculum crisis” may present an opportunity for educators to evaluate the worth of a textbook-adoption system created in 1927 ("California Faces a Curriculum Crisis," Sept. 16, 2009). As a veteran Los Angeles teacher, I wonder whether making experimental revisions to textbooks justifies the enormous expenditures.
Education
Letter to the Editor
K-12 Engineering Plans Need Support to Succeed
To the Editor:
Paula M. Hudis, in her letter to the editor on recent recommendations from the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council (Sept. 30, 2009), cites the growth of multidisciplinary engineering lessons as a way of increasing the number of high school students interested in engineering careers, and of addressing the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the field.
Paula M. Hudis, in her letter to the editor on recent recommendations from the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council (Sept. 30, 2009), cites the growth of multidisciplinary engineering lessons as a way of increasing the number of high school students interested in engineering careers, and of addressing the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the field.
Education
Letter to the Editor
On Reading, Will Obama Repeat Bush's Mistakes?
To the Editor:
In response to "'Race to Top' Said to Lack Key Science" (Oct. 7, 2009), which reports on criticism among some education researchers that the Obama administration parallels the U.S. Department of Education under former President George W. Bush by offering insufficient evidence to support its policies:
In response to "'Race to Top' Said to Lack Key Science" (Oct. 7, 2009), which reports on criticism among some education researchers that the Obama administration parallels the U.S. Department of Education under former President George W. Bush by offering insufficient evidence to support its policies:
Education
Letter to the Editor
The Problem Is Poverty, Not a Lack of Standards
To the Editor:
"Standards Aren't Enough," the recent Commentary by Susan H. Fuhrman, Lauren Resnick, and Lorrie Shepard (Oct. 14, 2009), implies that the United States’ lack of clear and uniform standards is the reason other countries do better on international tests of math and science. It also implies that in the absence of externally imposed and detailed standards, American teachers do not know how to help students make progress.
"Standards Aren't Enough," the recent Commentary by Susan H. Fuhrman, Lauren Resnick, and Lorrie Shepard (Oct. 14, 2009), implies that the United States’ lack of clear and uniform standards is the reason other countries do better on international tests of math and science. It also implies that in the absence of externally imposed and detailed standards, American teachers do not know how to help students make progress.