October 28, 2009
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 09
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Cognitive Science
A Scientific American article suggests that students learn more when they are challenged to make mistakes.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Teacher Quality
Efforts to improve teacher quality, especially in districts serving the poorest students, will continue to be undermined without a shift in teaching's fundamental nature.
Federal
Report Roundup
Data on Districts
Twenty-seven school districts have now reached the 100,000-plus student-enrollment mark.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Literacy Program Found to Have Effect
A review of an intervention for adolescent literacy finds that a popular computerized reading program, "Read 180," has "potentially positive effects" on student achievement.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
School Management Organizations
The number of nonprofit organizations that manage charters and other public schools continues to grow at a steady pace.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Latino Children
Latina children lag behind their non-Latina middle-class counterparts in developing cognitive skills from the ages of 9 months to 2 years, according to a study released by the University of California, Berkeley.
Curriculum
News in Brief
Tenn. Collaborative Envisions Major Changes in K-12 Education
An initiative spearheaded by Bill Frist, the former U.S. Senate majority leader, aims to help the state's schools become the top performers in the Southeast within five years.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Hawaii Judge Refuses to Stop Planned Friday School Closing
A federal judge last week refused to immediately block teacher furloughs set to begin in Hawaii until he could fully study two lawsuits filed by parents opposed to the budget-cutting maneuver.
Curriculum
News in Brief
Missouri Education Department Drops Plan for Integrated-Math Tests
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says it is dropping plans to create statewide math exams using an 'integrated math' curriculum.
Federal
News in Brief
Education Dept. Contract to Launch Resource Center on Charter Schools
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year contract to Learning Point Associates to conduct research and create a National Charter School Resource Center.
Special Education
News in Brief
Ohio Settles Spec. Ed. Case
Ohio must make sure school districts meet federal special education requirements, under the partial settlement of an 18-year-long lawsuit approved last week by a federal judge in Columbus.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Plyler Judge Dies
U.S. Senior District Judge William Wayne Justice, who more than a quarter-century ago ordered Texas to educate undocumented children, died on Oct. 13.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Pittsburgh Board Seals Deal to Retain Superintendent
The Pittsburgh school board has signed Superintendent Mark Roosevelt to a new contract through August 2014.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Common-Standards Leaders, Experts Eye Adding Math, Science
Leaders of an effort to establish common academic standards have held tentative discussions with advocates about expanding standards beyond math and language arts.
Federal
Obituary
Contrarian Writer Gerald Bracey Dies
Gerald W. Bracey, a well-known writer, researcher, and advocate for education, died in his sleep Oct. 20. He was 69.
Science
Forensics Courses Becoming Classroom Fixture
Teachers find the nitty-gritty of forensics excites students in a way that much of traditional science often does not.
School & District Management
Turnover in Principalship Focus of Research
Studies are showing that many principals don't stay on the job long, and that those who leave don't take other jobs as school leaders.
Federal
NCLB Suit Dismissal Stands as Appeals Court Deadlocks
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals spent 10 months deliberating on the suit filed by NEA and nine school districts.
Federal
Institute of Medicine Calls for Upgrade to School Meals
The report's recommendations would bring school meals in line with dietary guidelines for Americans.
Education
Letter to the Editor
More Views on What Standards Must Include
To the Editor:
In her Commentary “More Is Not Better” (Sept. 30, 2009), Vicki Phillips argues persuasively for flexible core standards that prepare students for college and careers. As a classroom teacher, I appreciated her emphasis on depth and flexibility in the preparation of those standards, as well as her willingness to listen to those of us in the trenches.
In her Commentary “More Is Not Better” (Sept. 30, 2009), Vicki Phillips argues persuasively for flexible core standards that prepare students for college and careers. As a classroom teacher, I appreciated her emphasis on depth and flexibility in the preparation of those standards, as well as her willingness to listen to those of us in the trenches.
Education
Letter to the Editor
'Common Core' Leaders: Contempt for Teachers?
To the Editor:
The so-called Common Core national academic standards project has now released the names of about 85 people involved in this work as authors, “feedback” providers, and, most recently, “validators” ("New Standards Draft Offers More Details," Sept. 30, 2009).
The so-called Common Core national academic standards project has now released the names of about 85 people involved in this work as authors, “feedback” providers, and, most recently, “validators” ("New Standards Draft Offers More Details," Sept. 30, 2009).
Education
Letter to the Editor
How English Teachers Invert Bloom's Taxonomy
To the Editor:
Thank you for Sam Wineburg and Jack Schneider’s excellent Commentary piece, "Inverting Bloom's Taxonomy" (Oct. 7, 2009).
Thank you for Sam Wineburg and Jack Schneider’s excellent Commentary piece, "Inverting Bloom's Taxonomy" (Oct. 7, 2009).
Education
Letter to the Editor
Competing Nations and Multicultural Challenge
To the Editor:
In their Commentary "Standards Aren't Enough" (Oct. 14, 2009), Susan H. Fuhrman, Lauren Resnick, and Lorrie Shepard compare the United States’ approach to curriculum with those of other countries, and write that high-scoring nations such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and the Czech Republic provide teachers with “much clearer guidance on the key ideas to be explored and mastered in each grade.”
In their Commentary "Standards Aren't Enough" (Oct. 14, 2009), Susan H. Fuhrman, Lauren Resnick, and Lorrie Shepard compare the United States’ approach to curriculum with those of other countries, and write that high-scoring nations such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and the Czech Republic provide teachers with “much clearer guidance on the key ideas to be explored and mastered in each grade.”
Education
Letter to the Editor
Raymond-Hoxby 'Spat' Has Historical Resonance
To the Editor:
The spat between Stanford University colleagues Margaret E. Raymond and Caroline M. Hoxby over charter schools ("Scholars Spar Over Research Methods Used to Evaluate Charters," Oct. 14, 2009) is reminiscent of the brawl between John F. Witte of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard University’s Paul E. Peterson over vouchers in 1996. In both instances, the issue made headlines in major newspapers nationwide, with The Wall Street Journal running a story about the earlier debate on its front page on Oct. 11, 1996.
The spat between Stanford University colleagues Margaret E. Raymond and Caroline M. Hoxby over charter schools ("Scholars Spar Over Research Methods Used to Evaluate Charters," Oct. 14, 2009) is reminiscent of the brawl between John F. Witte of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard University’s Paul E. Peterson over vouchers in 1996. In both instances, the issue made headlines in major newspapers nationwide, with The Wall Street Journal running a story about the earlier debate on its front page on Oct. 11, 1996.
School Choice & Charters
Scholarship Boon at Risk in Arizona
A groundbreaking Arizona program providing tax breaks for donations for private school scholarships has been dealt another setback.
School & District Management
Education Issues Bidding for Voters' Attention
Schooling figures in key mayoral, gubernatorial races around the country, even without the benefit of a national election.
School & District Management
Opinion
Charter-Management Organizations: Expansion, Survival, and Impact
These much-lauded charter networks may not be able to meet the administration's ambitious plans for them, writes Thomas Toch.
School & District Management
Opinion
Charter-Management Organizations: More Pluses Than Minuses
Priscilla Wohlstetter, Joanna Smith, and Michelle Nayfack say that development of these nonprofit school networks is a positive for the charter movement.