March 28, 2012
Education Week, Vol. 31, Issue 26
Teaching Profession
Teachers Place Little Value on Standardized Testing
Most teachers do not believe standardized tests have significant value as measures of student performance, according to a new report.
School & District Management
Panel: U.S. Education Woes Threaten Nation's Security
The United States must improve its education system or risk imperiling national security, a blue-ribbon panel concludes.
Student Well-Being
USDA Decides to Let Schools Decide Whether 'Pink Slime' Is on the Menu
Starting in the fall, schools that get their ground beef from the federal government can buy it with or without 'pink slime.'
School & District Management
P.E. Found on Decline, Sports Opportunities Rising
But experts caution that the data from a federal survey were gathered before the bottom fell out of the nation's economy.
Federal
SIG Effort Posts Promising Early Results
Many schools in the federal turnaround program saw gains in the 2010-11 school year, the Education Department says.
Curriculum
In Print or Online, Encyclopedias Seen as Valuable Learning Tool
After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica ends its print edition to focus on popular digital products for schools and consumers.
Early Childhood
Opinion
Math Matters, Even for Little Kids
Early math skills are an equal predictor to literacy skills of school success, argue Deborah Stipek, Alan Schoenfeld, and Deanna Gomby.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
'Factory' Education Model Is Not Sustainable
To the Editor:
Progressive educators found a little room to run in the 1960s and 1970s and built common cause by defining a common enemy when it came to education. Before that point, we chose to paint a picture of public education as a factory model. The image was the factory floor, an assembly line, with the children on a conveyor belt being moved from station to station where parts were added according to a blueprint imposed from above and designed for a certain standard product at the end.
Progressive educators found a little room to run in the 1960s and 1970s and built common cause by defining a common enemy when it came to education. Before that point, we chose to paint a picture of public education as a factory model. The image was the factory floor, an assembly line, with the children on a conveyor belt being moved from station to station where parts were added according to a blueprint imposed from above and designed for a certain standard product at the end.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
Criticism Causes Job Dissatisfaction
To the Editor:
Regarding teachers and their level of job satisfaction ("Survey: Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits a Low Point," March 7, 2012): "Lows" in job satisfaction have much to do with outright disrespect for their profession and the people actually doing the job of educating children.
Regarding teachers and their level of job satisfaction ("Survey: Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits a Low Point," March 7, 2012): "Lows" in job satisfaction have much to do with outright disrespect for their profession and the people actually doing the job of educating children.
Reading & Literacy
Letter to the Editor
Common-Core Standards in Reading Not 'Flawed'
To the Editor:
Joanne Yatvin protests teaching children the skills and knowledge they need to become competent and joyful readers ("A Flawed Approach to Reading in the Common-Core Standards,", Commentary, Feb. 29, 2012). Worse, she underestimates the capability and interest of young children. I, too, was an elementary school principal and saw firsthand the interest children took in the world around them. Kindergarten children devoured nonfiction about dinosaurs. They requested over and over again the Magic School Bus books about their bodies.
Joanne Yatvin protests teaching children the skills and knowledge they need to become competent and joyful readers ("A Flawed Approach to Reading in the Common-Core Standards,", Commentary, Feb. 29, 2012). Worse, she underestimates the capability and interest of young children. I, too, was an elementary school principal and saw firsthand the interest children took in the world around them. Kindergarten children devoured nonfiction about dinosaurs. They requested over and over again the Magic School Bus books about their bodies.
Teaching Profession
Access to Teacher Evaluations Divides Advocates
Supporters of tying teacher evaluations to student performance differ over whether individuals' results should be made public.
English-Language Learners
Report Roundup
English-Learners
English-learners who complete language-acquisition courses within three years go on to have much more academic success than peers.
Science
Report Roundup
AP Participation
A statewide program in Massachusetts aimed at improving math and science education is showing some evidence of success.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Student-Teaching
A report suggests easy-to-staff, high-functioning schools may be better environments for training student-teachers than the toughest teaching environments.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Teacher Turnover
When teachers leave schools, overall morale appears to suffer enough that student achievement declines.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Study Finds Fewer Dropouts and 'Dropout Factories'
Aggressive efforts to prevent students from dropping out contributed to a modest increase of 3.5 percentage points in the high school graduation rate.
Education Funding
Warnings Sounded on Separate Fronts Over K-12 Funding
A new GOP budget blueprint and across-the-board cuts stemming from last years budget deal draw fresh concerns.
Student Well-Being
Obituary
Expert on Teen Health, School Services Dies
Joy G. Dryfoos, a founder of the Coalition for Community Schools and an author on teenage health issues, died March 18.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Jury Finds Va. Tech Liable for Shootings
A jury found Virginia Polytechnic Institute negligent for waiting to warn students about a gunman during a 2007 campus massacre that left 33 dead.
Early Childhood
Report Roundup
Chronic Absenteeism
Prekindergartners and kindergartners who are chronically absent are more likely to continue to miss school in later grades and be held back by grade 3.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Civil Rights Lessons Highlighted in Guide
The Southern Poverty Law Center is providing model learning standards designed to help states teach civil rights history.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
White House Sponsors Safe-Schools Event
The White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities kicked off last week with a panel discussion aimed at bullying against LGBT members.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
AT&T to Give Millions for H.S. Programs
AT&T announced last week it will pour $250 million into programs to promote high school graduation and career readiness over the next five years.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Free-Speech Claim Denied by Court
A federal district judge ruled a Mississippi student's rap song on Facebook and YouTube was not protected by the First Amendment.
Reading & Literacy
News in Brief
Nation's Cities Pledge to Target Early Reading
More than 120 cities, towns, and counties have pledged to improve literacy among their youngest residents as part of a national initiative.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Minn. Gov. Appoints Anti-Bullying Panel
A panel of 15 prominent Minnesotans got to work last week on a plan for eliminating bullying.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Girl, 11, Sues District Over Drug Testing
A central Pennsylvania middle school student is suing her district over a drug-testing policy.
Special Education
News in Brief
Wisconsin Sets Limits on Restraint, Seclusion
Wisconsin has joined other states in passing laws regulating the use of restraints and seclusion at school.