May 12, 2010
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 31
Classroom Technology
College, K12 Inc. Forge Language-Learning Partnership
Online foreign-language courses will be offered to high school students via Middlebury College in Vermont.
School & District Management
Educators Eye Ning Transition to a Pay Model
Although the popular social-networking platform Ning will start charging to maintain sites, certain education networks may remain free.
Early Childhood
Hard Times Derail Expansion of State-Financed Preschool
Despite rising demand, recession-driven budget cuts have reined in the once-swift expansion of public pre-K programs, a survey finds.
School & District Management
K-12 Champion Sets Departure From Congress
The pending departure of the top lawmaker overseeing education spending in the U.S. House of Representatives is drawing sharply divided responses from various sides of the policy landscape.
School & District Management
Principals Seen as Key for Recruiting New School Leaders
A study on how teachers move into administration was among a range of studies on principals discussed at the AERA's annual gathering.
English-Language Learners
Social Skills of Latino and White Kindergartners Found to Be on Par
A new set of studies show that Latino children start school with some strong assets, but those early gains tend to soon disappear.
Science
Momentum Building for Hands-On Science Learning
The focus is on offering high quality laboratory learning in and outside the classroom.
Federal
Senate Panel Skirts Title I, Standards Link in Weighing ESEA Renewal
As they consider how to go forward in reauthorizing the law, members mull how the push for common academic standards fits into the picture.
Education Funding
'Promise' Program Begins Gearing Up
Communities and nonprofit organizations are now invited to apply for federal grants to help plan "Promise Neighborhoods."
Standards
Opinion
Common Standards: From What to How
Douglas B. Reeves sees promise in the proposed standards, but disagrees with the drafters' belief that instructional guides are off-limits.
Education
Obituary
Autism Expert Greenspan Dies
Stanley I. Greenspan, a psychiatrist known for his work with children and infants with developmental and emotional disorders, died late last month of complications from a stroke. He was 68.
School & District Management
Opinion
An Idea to Consider: The Purpose Is the Point
Lost in education's current fervor for finding winners and losers, write Phillip Harris and Bruce Smith, is a sense of what schools should be accountable for.
Reading & Literacy
Study of Reading Programs Finds Little Proof of Gains in Student Comprehension
A federal study of supplemental reading-comprehension programs found positive effects for only one of the three programs examined.
School Climate & Safety
Efforts to End Bullying, A Challenge to Leaders, Gain New Momentum
Recent high-profile incidents prompt school- and district-level leaders to focus anew on prevention, intervention, and response.
Federal
Philanthropies Add Weight to 'i3' Effort
A new effort by 12 major education philanthropies aims to dovetail with the Education Department’s ‘i3’ agenda, raising complex issues.
Budget & Finance
Furloughs Bedevil Hawaii Lawmakers
| Hawaii | Faced with a $142.6 million hole in the education budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which prompted the state to declare 17 furlough days for both the current and upcoming school year, educators and officials in Hawaii are struggling to find solutions to restore the lost instructional time.
Education Funding
Alaska Ramps Up Education Funding
| Alaska | Funding for K-12 education in Alaska won an increase in this year’s legislative session, which wrapped up April 19.
School & District Management
Ethics Bill Highlights Ga. Session
The measure would let the governor remove local board members for ethics violations.
Curriculum
Letter to the Editor
Finding the 'Price Point' by Learning Together
To the Editor:
As a person who left education almost 20 years ago, after having worked in areas such as critical-thinking skills, content knowledge, outcomes-based education, and quality schools, I had mixed feelings as I read Paul E. Peterson's "Finding the Student's 'Price Point'" (Commentary, April 21, 2010).
As a person who left education almost 20 years ago, after having worked in areas such as critical-thinking skills, content knowledge, outcomes-based education, and quality schools, I had mixed feelings as I read Paul E. Peterson's "Finding the Student's 'Price Point'" (Commentary, April 21, 2010).
English-Language Learners
Letter to the Editor
Studies Dispel Fears Over Bilingual Education
To the Editor:
Your article "Bilingual Education, Immersion Found to Work Equally Well" (April 21, 2010) describes two recent studies using different methodologies that came to the same conclusion: When tested after a few years in school, children in bilingual programs learn about as much English as do children in English-only programs. I would like to add several points to the information provided in your article.
Your article "Bilingual Education, Immersion Found to Work Equally Well" (April 21, 2010) describes two recent studies using different methodologies that came to the same conclusion: When tested after a few years in school, children in bilingual programs learn about as much English as do children in English-only programs. I would like to add several points to the information provided in your article.
Federal
Letter to the Editor
Could a Federal Takeover Save Public Education?
To the Editor:
Any time I see a title as provocative as "Will We Ever Learn?" (Commentary, April 21, 2010) in an education periodical, it usually means the authors have been marginalized or otherwise uninvolved in the initiative, process, or reform they are trashing. It happens all the time with college professors who criticize school textbook publishers and their products: They could “right things” if only the “vendor” would contract with them for big bucks to write “correct” (that is, unedited) books.
Any time I see a title as provocative as "Will We Ever Learn?" (Commentary, April 21, 2010) in an education periodical, it usually means the authors have been marginalized or otherwise uninvolved in the initiative, process, or reform they are trashing. It happens all the time with college professors who criticize school textbook publishers and their products: They could “right things” if only the “vendor” would contract with them for big bucks to write “correct” (that is, unedited) books.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
Teacher-Survey Results: Meaning Needs Analysis
To the Editor:
Your article "Teacher Polls Look to Sway Policymakers" (March 31, 2010) illuminates the importance of the school workplace in the equation for improving student outcomes. Holding state, district, and school leaders accountable for creating work and learning systems that genuinely contribute to teacher and student performance is a profound idea (albeit a blinding glimpse of the obvious) whose time has come.
Your article "Teacher Polls Look to Sway Policymakers" (March 31, 2010) illuminates the importance of the school workplace in the equation for improving student outcomes. Holding state, district, and school leaders accountable for creating work and learning systems that genuinely contribute to teacher and student performance is a profound idea (albeit a blinding glimpse of the obvious) whose time has come.
Ed-Tech Policy
Letter to the Editor
Online-Learning Report: Praise and Clarification
To the Editor:
Thank you for the special report covering online learning in your April 28, 2010, issue ("E-Learning 2010: Assessing the Agenda for Change"). It is an accessible and valuable resource that many districts will find useful as they explore online learning’s benefits.
Thank you for the special report covering online learning in your April 28, 2010, issue ("E-Learning 2010: Assessing the Agenda for Change"). It is an accessible and valuable resource that many districts will find useful as they explore online learning’s benefits.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
'Value Added' Measures for Teachers' Impact
To the Editor:
Finally, after all the rhetoric about teacher evaluations being linked with students’ test scores, a sober voice is heard ("Tying Teacher Evaluation to Student Achievement," Commentary, April 7, 2010). Susan H. Fuhrman’s mention of controlling for the differences among students and the family situations they are coming from—factors beyond a teacher’s or a school’s control—provides readers with a piece of the discussion that seems to have been overlooked until now.
Finally, after all the rhetoric about teacher evaluations being linked with students’ test scores, a sober voice is heard ("Tying Teacher Evaluation to Student Achievement," Commentary, April 7, 2010). Susan H. Fuhrman’s mention of controlling for the differences among students and the family situations they are coming from—factors beyond a teacher’s or a school’s control—provides readers with a piece of the discussion that seems to have been overlooked until now.
English-Language Learners
Report Roundup
Middle Schools and ELLs
California's middle school programs are failing English-language learners and limiting their futures, according to a new report by a San Francisco-based research group.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
After-School Programs
Cities seeking role models on the after-school programming front need look no further than Providence, R.I., according to a new study.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Wireless Safety
Schools and school districts should urge the Federal Communications Commission to require a setback of 1,500 feet for all wireless infrastructure and cellphone antennas near schools, says a new report.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Research Report: Educational Technology
Teachers in high-poverty schools are less likely to use technology to keep in touch with parents and students than teachers in schools with low poverty, says a U.S. Department of Education report.