September 10, 2014
Education Week, Vol. 34, Issue 03
School & District Management
Students Learn to 'Toggle' Between Dialects
Researchers are scaling up an effort to teach young urban children to embrace their own dialect—and to know when and how to switch to standard English.
Accountability
New Reports Grade Schools on Reading, Writing, and Recess
States and districts are integrating student-wellness data into the school-level reports they share with the public.
School & District Management
Counselors Work to Get More Students on College Path
In some states, new initiatives and graduate programs are providing needed training to expand college counseling in high schools.
Accountability
New Group Takes Aim at 'Toxic Nature' of K-12 Debate
A new communications organization headed by a former aide to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will seek to elevate the national conversation over education policy.
Special Education
New Global Fellowship Launched to Train Teacher-Coaches
Teach For All, a network in 34 countries, is focusing a new, two-year fellowship on students with what it terms "learning differences."
Curriculum
Urban Districts Develop Common-Core Guide for Teaching ELLs
The Council of the Great City Schools has set out criteria to help educators bring common-core-aligned lessons and materials to English-learners.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
We Need Teachers of Color
School demographics in the United States are changing rapidly, and classrooms need to reflect the shift, write Jacob Murray and Jackie Jenkins-Scott.
Federal
Education Looms Large in Pivotal U.S. Senate Races
Stark policy differences over issues such as the common core and education funding add heat to a handful of competitive campaigns that could help decide which party controls the Senate.
Teaching Profession
Principals Aren't Tapping Teacher-Effectiveness Data, Says Study
Researchers say many principals are not tapping into the data generated by new teacher-evaluation systems around the country.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Study Links Absenteeism and NAEP Scores
Students with poor attendance in the month before taking the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress scored significantly lower on the test than their peers who had no absences in that time frame, a new analysis by Attendance Works finds.
Curriculum
Report Roundup
Music Training
Elementary students who participated in a music-enrichment program for two years showed improvement in their ability to process speech sounds, according to a study.
Classroom Technology
Report Roundup
Technology and Learning
As more districts roll out 1-to-1 laptop and tablet initiatives, new research suggests students may be better off sticking to traditional pen-and-paper longhand for taking and studying notes.
Education
Report Roundup
Student Help-Seeking
Parents are less likely to encourage their children to reach out for help in class if their own school experiences were frustrating, according to a forthcoming article.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Research Report: School Safety
Seventy percent of parents responding to a recent poll said they were at least somewhat concerned "about the risk their child faces from school shootings," and 35 percent were "very or extremely concerned."
Education
News in Brief
Transition
Francis Eberle last week became the new deputy executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Education Funding
News in Brief
14 Miss. Districts Sue State Over Underfunding
Fourteen Mississippi school districts have sued the state, seeking money they say they were illegally shorted by the state's public school funding formula over the last six years.
Education
News in Brief
Many Minority Students Fail N.Y.C. Reading, Math Tests
A pro-charter school group has found that 90 New York City public schools failed to pass a single black or Hispanic student on state mathematics and reading tests this year.
Education
News in Brief
Higher Testing Bar in Texas Delayed for Five Years
Texas education officials have given schools five more years for students to meet more rigorous standards before entering high school.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Texas Finance System Ruled Unconstitutional—Again
A state judge has declared Texas' school finance system unconstitutional for a second time.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Calif. Governor Appeals Teacher-Tenure Ruling
Gov. Jerry Brown last week appealed the court ruling that struck down California's teacher-tenure laws.
Education
News in Brief
Education Efficiency Found to Lag in United States
The United States ranks 19th out of 30 countries for the outcomes achieved from its education investments, according to "The Efficiency Index: Which Education Systems Deliver the Best Value for the Money?"
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Illinois to Pay for Expansion of Safe Passage in Chicago
Illinois will spend $10 million to expand the Chicago district's Safe Passage program, which trains adults to monitor designated walking routes to the city's schools.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Newtown Gets More Funds From Education Department
The U.S. Department of Education will provide an additional $3.1 million grant to the Newtown, Conn. school district to aid in recovery from the 2012 killing of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Education
News in Brief
Kansas City District Makes Gains, Avoids Transfers
Two and a half years after losing accreditation because of falling student achievement and chaos in its leadership ranks, the Kansas City, Mo., school system is back on firmer footing for the 2014-15 school year now that state education officials have granted it "provisional" accreditation.
Education
News in Brief
Assessment Group Shortens English/Language Arts Test
The PARCC testing consortium has decided to cut out some questions on the English/language arts portion of its common-core-aligned test, reducing the length of the exam.
Data
News in Brief
Lawmakers in Calif. Pass Online Student-Data Law
Trying to protect children from marketers, identity thieves, and predators, California could establish the nation's toughest protections of student privacy and forbid the sale and disclosure of schools' online student data.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Louisiana High Court Hears New Orleans Teacher Case
Louisiana's supreme court now is set to decide a case involving more than 7,000 employees fired by the New Orleans school system after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.