March 16, 2011
Education Week, Vol. 30, Issue 24
States
State of the States
State of the States 2011: Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
Education Week's coverage of the governor's addresses in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Education
Report Roundup
Reform Collaborations
Out of five collaborative education improvement efforts funded by the Ford Foundation over the last half of the past decade, only one became a strong voice for reform at both the local and state levels, an assessment by the RAND Corp. concludes.
English-Language Learners
Report Roundup
Research Report: English-Language Learners
More than a third of Utah 10th graders who scored high enough on the state's regular English-content tests to exit English-language-learner programs failed to pass the same hurdle on proficiency tests designed for ELLs.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Schooling Statistics
After growing by 27 percent from 1994 to 2007, the number of high school graduates is expected to increase by just 1 percent between then and the 2019-20 school year, according to new projections.
Special Education
Report Roundup
Hearing-Impaired Students
More than a third of teenagers with hearing impairments took all their courses in general education classrooms, and most were given some type of accommodation, support, or service from their schools, a report says.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
School Health Centers
A study by researchers in Washington state has found that high school students who used school-based health centers were somewhat less likely to drop out than their peers who did not use those centers.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Principals' Group Weighs in on Evaluations
The National Association of Secondary School Principals is calling for more-comprehensive teacher evaluations and training for school leaders who conduct them.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Wis. GOP Bypasses Democrats, Votes to Strip Bargaining Rights
Thousands of angry protesters flooded the Wisconsin Capitol after Senate Republicans found a way to bypass their absent Democratic colleagues and push through a plan to strip most public workers of collective bargaining rights.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Charter Schools Founder Fired
A Los Angeles charter school organization has fired its founder, who was accused of ordering principals and teachers at six schools in the city to break the seal on state standardized tests and use the questions to prepare students.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Hartford Names Superintendent
Christina Kishimoto, an assistant superintendent in the 26,500-student Hartford, Conn., school district, will take over as superintendent.
Education
News in Brief
Baltimore Adds Monitoring After Test-Cheating Scandal
Baltimore school officials ordered that monitors be added to every city school administering the Maryland School Assessments this year, an unprecedented measure.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Ga. Plan May Preserve Pre-K
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced last week that he would retool his budget-reduction strategy to preserve a six-hour day in the states pre-K program.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Tenure and Merit-Pay Bill Easily Passes Fla. Senate
A new version of a teacher merit-pay and tenure bill that was vetoed last year after statewide protests is now on a fast track to passage.
School & District Management
News in Brief
D.C. Schools Chief Named
Kaya Henderson, a deputy District of Columbia schools chancellor under former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, was named to the top post last week.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Okla. Lawmakers Rethinking State Board of Education
Oklahoma legislators are considering a plan to remove the six appointed members of the state board of education and replace them with the governor, the attorney general, and the secretary of state.
Classroom Technology
News in Brief
State Moves to Shut Down Minn.'s First Online Charter
Minnesota took action last week to unplug the state's first online high school after two audits and an investigation found that some students were graduating from the school without completing state-required coursework.
Education
News in Brief
Test-Score Reviews Uncover Improbable Gains in 6 States
Gains in standardized-test scores in 304 schools in six states and the District of Columbia have been found to be so improbable they should be investigated, an analysis by a group of newspapers has found.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Minn. Clears Alternative Path to Teaching Licenses
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has signed legislation that creates a new path into the teaching profession for nontraditional teachers and midcareer professionals.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
Survey Shows Broad Support for College, Work Readiness
A new survey shows broad agreement about the importance of college and career readiness for high school graduates. But opinions about what exactly that means, how high a priority it should be, and what changes are needed vary.
School Climate & Safety
Budget Eliminates Emergency Grants; Districts Regroup
Emergency training programs aimed to prepare schools for events like Columbine are losing their funding amid budget cuts.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Idaho Lawmakers OK Union Limits
The Idaho legislature approved a measure last week to phase out tenure for new teachers and restrict collective bargaining.
Federal
Research Collaborations Not Seen as Two-Way
Both scientists and practitioners say school-based research partnerships need to go both ways.
School Climate & Safety
White House Eye Again on Bullying
The president, himself bullied as a child, put a spotlight on what he sees as an epidemic for American school children.
College & Workforce Readiness
Cyber Students Facing Barriers to Enlistment In Military Services
Those who hope to enlist in the military are finding their plans derailed by an obscure Department of Defense policy that ranks cyber schools as “less desirable.”
School & District Management
D.C. Success Must Go Beyond Test Scores, Study Says
The first of a series of outside evaluation reports on the District of Columbia's four-year-old school reform efforts concludes that improving test scores don't tell the whole story.
School & District Management
Memphis Votes to Merge City and Suburban Schools
Now haggling begins over when to form a new school board and what its composition should be.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Value-Added Can Help Guide Schools
To the Editor:
The Commentary by Douglas Harris (“Economists and the Value-Added Wave in Schools,” Jan. 26, 2011), in which he discusses a divide between economists and education scholars over the merits of value-added analysis, was thought-provoking and largely well-reasoned. But his assertion that “there is almost no evidence to suggest that any use of value-added does or does not improve teaching and learning” demands further scrutiny.
The Commentary by Douglas Harris (“Economists and the Value-Added Wave in Schools,” Jan. 26, 2011), in which he discusses a divide between economists and education scholars over the merits of value-added analysis, was thought-provoking and largely well-reasoned. But his assertion that “there is almost no evidence to suggest that any use of value-added does or does not improve teaching and learning” demands further scrutiny.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Wake County Article Repeats Misconceptions
To the Editor:
Education Week's recent article, “Cooling Signs in Wake Debate,” (Feb. 23, 2011) repeated some misconceptions about the diversity policy that have contributed to a poor understanding of the policy’s goals and accomplishments. The article quotes Wake CARES founder Patrice Lee in claiming that no study had shown increased achievement under the diversity policy: “You can’t have it both ways,” Ms. Lee said. “You can’t say you’re busing to give [low-income students] a better opportunity if they’re not getting it.”
Education Week's recent article, “Cooling Signs in Wake Debate,” (Feb. 23, 2011) repeated some misconceptions about the diversity policy that have contributed to a poor understanding of the policy’s goals and accomplishments. The article quotes Wake CARES founder Patrice Lee in claiming that no study had shown increased achievement under the diversity policy: “You can’t have it both ways,” Ms. Lee said. “You can’t say you’re busing to give [low-income students] a better opportunity if they’re not getting it.”
Education
Letter to the Editor
Report Card Misses Need for Narratives
To the Editor:
Re: Education Week’s recent article on the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s report card on the teaching of history in the different states (“Majority of States Get Poor Grades on History Standards,” Feb. 23, 2011). In the article, Chester E. Finn Jr. defends the institute’s concern for “names, dates, and events” at the expense of in-depth understanding by saying: “You have to get the bricks before you can get the mortar.” Finn should know better. A teacher builds learning by using bricks and mortar at the same time, from the very start.
Re: Education Week’s recent article on the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s report card on the teaching of history in the different states (“Majority of States Get Poor Grades on History Standards,” Feb. 23, 2011). In the article, Chester E. Finn Jr. defends the institute’s concern for “names, dates, and events” at the expense of in-depth understanding by saying: “You have to get the bricks before you can get the mortar.” Finn should know better. A teacher builds learning by using bricks and mortar at the same time, from the very start.