November 2, 2016
Education Week, Vol. 36, Issue 11
School Choice & Charters
Problems With For-Profit Management of Pa. Cybers
To understand how the problems with for-profit management of cyber charters have persisted over time, just look at Pennsylvania.
School Choice & Charters
Outsized Influence: Online Charters Bring Lobbying 'A' Game to States
Savvy lobbying, well-connected allies, and impassioned parents have helped keep online charters growing across states even in the face of often-poor results.
School Choice & Charters
Tracking Attendance in Online Schools
Just 1 in 4 students uses GOAL Academy's learning software each day. Yet the state of Colorado officially reports an 89 percent attendance rate at the school. Why the disconnect?
School Choice & Charters
Cyber Charters vs. 'Multi-District Online Schools'
Across the country, interest is growing in such new types of non-charter management models. But multidistrict online schools have faced some of the same problems that plague cyber charters.
Families & the Community
Online Charters Cause Rift Among Supporters of School Choice
Rising concerns over the management practices and academic quality of virtual charter schools have exposed a deepening divide among some of the nation's most influential supporters of school choice.
School Choice & Charters
From Our Research Center
A Virtual Mess: Inside Colorado's Largest Online Charter School
At Colorado's 4,000-student GOAL Academy, just 1 in 4 students uses the learning software each day. The founder helped direct millions of dollars to his for-profit management company.
School Choice & Charters
Map: Cyber Charters Have a New Champion in DeVos, But Struggles Continue
Education Week reviewed hundreds of news stories and dozens of state audits that document problems in the sector that date to the early 2000s.
Law & Courts
Correction
Corrections
An article in the Oct. 26, 2016, issue of Education Week about teachers’ union campaign workers misspelled the name of National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García.
Equity & Diversity
Election's Intolerant Tone Stokes Fears for Latino Students
Educators and advocates worry about long-lasting effects of the 2016 campaign's harsh rhetoric directed at immigrants, Muslims, and communities of color.
Equity & Diversity
African-American History Museum Gears Up for School Visits
Official school tours don't start at the national museum until 2017, but classes are already flocking to the museum and tapping its resources.
Every Student Succeeds Act
New Details on ESSA Funding for Healthy, Safe, Well-Rounded Students
Guidance released Friday makes it clear that well-rounded means more than just music and arts, even though those are important. It can include everything from foreign language courses to Advanced Placement to civics education to college and career counseling.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
State Education Aid Lags Despite Recovery
The vast majority of states are spending less on education than they did before the Great Recession, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that pushes for more vibrant social programs.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Conservative Group Focusing on ESSA Expands Reach
An organization led by former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett signs up four state lawmakers and a state board member in Alabama, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
High School
For many students, dropping out of high school is not the end of the line, a new federal study suggests.
Assessment
Report Roundup
School Improvement
It's unclear whether the $4 billion federal Race to the Top initiative had a long-term effect on student achievement, according to a report by Mathematica for the Institute of Education Sciences.
Reading & Literacy
Common Core: Teach Literacy in Every Subject
The common core's lesser-known literacy standards call for teaching students to write, read, and analyze like historians, scientists, or other discipline experts.
School & District Management
Principals Work 60-Hour Weeks, Study Finds
The first national study of principals' time use finds that school leaders clock long hours—and many of them are spent on paperwork.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Math Education
Asking students to take another person's perspective can close girls' performance gaps with boys on spatial ability.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Research Report: School Climate
It seems like common sense: Students who feel unsafe at school stay home. That basic premise may underlie the link between poor school climate and lower student achievement, according to a new study in the journal Urban Education.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
School Choice
A new study of New York City's high school choice system shows that even high-achieving students from lower-performing middle schools often don't aim for the most competitive high schools, a finding that raises questions about how well the choice system, by itself, expands students' options.
Curriculum
Opinion
Why Students Can't Google Their Way to the Truth
Students would be wise to learn the strategies fact-checkers use to evaluate online information, write Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew.
School & District Management
Opinion
Don't Let Partisanship Overshadow Fact-Finding
This divisive election season is a stark reminder of the role of objective information in informing policy, writes Michael J. Feuer.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Anti-Bias Training for Early Educators Should Be a Common Thread
To the Editor:
Regarding "Yale Study Probes the Complexity of Bias in Preschool," we believe it is important to keep in mind that early educators need support in understanding the family and community context of young children's lives, as this context may relate to childhood behaviors—especially when the teacher and child are of a different race. This is why we at the National Louis University, in Chicago, thread culturally relevant pedagogy through all of our coursework, supporting our teacher-candidates through deep reflection that focuses on both the academic and social-emotional learning of young children.
Regarding "Yale Study Probes the Complexity of Bias in Preschool," we believe it is important to keep in mind that early educators need support in understanding the family and community context of young children's lives, as this context may relate to childhood behaviors—especially when the teacher and child are of a different race. This is why we at the National Louis University, in Chicago, thread culturally relevant pedagogy through all of our coursework, supporting our teacher-candidates through deep reflection that focuses on both the academic and social-emotional learning of young children.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Cleveland CEO Is Named Urban Educator of the Year
Eric Gordon, the CEO of the Cleveland district, has been selected as the Urban Educator of the Year.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Hawaii Board to Replace State Schools Chief
Hawaii's board of education will search for a new schools superintendent to succeed Kathryn Matayoshi when her contract ends June 30, even though she has expressed the desire to stay.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Cursive Writing Reflects 'Energy, Emotion, and Vitality' of Thoughts
To the Editor:
I write regarding the Curriculum Matters blog post "Why Don't the Common-Core Standards Include Cursive Writing?" (edweek.org, Oct. 10, 2016), which addresses the elimination of cursive writing from the common core.
I write regarding the Curriculum Matters blog post "Why Don't the Common-Core Standards Include Cursive Writing?" (edweek.org, Oct. 10, 2016), which addresses the elimination of cursive writing from the common core.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Probe Underway in Miss. on Noose Allegations
A Mississippi high school student has been disciplined following allegations that one or more white students put a noose around a black football player's neck, a lawyer for the Stone County school district said last week.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Fearing Election Day Trouble, Some Schools Cancel Classes
Rigged elections. Vigilante observers. Angry voters. The claims, threats, and passions surrounding the presidential race have led communities around the country to move polling places out of schools or cancel classes on Election Day.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Video Shows Miss. Teacher Dragging Student by Hair
A Mississippi teacher has been fired, the district superintendent has been placed on paid administrative leave, and state investigators are trying to determine whether the fired educator should lose her teaching license, after video of the teacher dragging a student by the hair surfaced on Facebook.