February 15, 2017
Education Week, Vol. 36, Issue 21
Assessment
Which States Required an Exam to Graduate in 2016-17?
An Education Week survey finds that fewer states are requiring high school students to pass a test in order to graduate.
Assessment
Which States Required Students to Take the SAT or ACT in 2016-17?
A growing number of states are requiring high school students to take the SAT or ACT, according to Education Week's annual testing survey.
Assessment
Which States Were Using PARCC or Smarter Balanced in 2016-17?
Twenty states and the District of Columbia will administer the tests designed for the common-core standards in 2016-17, an Education Week survey finds.
School & District Management
What Tests Did Each State Require in 2016-17?
Education Week's latest annual state survey reveals subtle shifts this year in the national testing landscape.
States
National Testing Landscape Continues to Shift
An Education Week survey finds smaller shifts in testing this year as more states embrace the SAT and ACT and the number of states using PARCC or Smarter Balanced holds steady.
Assessment
What Tests Does Each State Require?
Browse the results of Education Week's latest state survey of testing plans and see how the national testing landscape has evolved.
Special Education
RTI May Fall Short in Flagging Certain Students
As a method of organizing efforts to help students who are struggling academically, response to intervention has seen widespread adoption.
School & District Management
When School Doesn't Seem Fair, Students May Suffer Lasting Effects
A lack of trust in school can lead to poor outcomes, such as higher rates of discipline and less likelihood of college enrollment, new research finds.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
Student Suicide: Moving Beyond Blame to Understanding
When it comes to the wrenching matter of student suicide, two psychologists explain how school leaders can support their communities.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Don’t Reduce Transgender Rights to Bathroom Access
Teachers should be aware how transgender students can feel unsafe, even in the classroom, writes researcher Jacob Berglin.
Data
Autopsy of inBloom Sparks Old Debates About Sharing Student Data
Three years after the demise of the education data company, the ed-tech sector is still struggling to make sense of what went wrong, and how to address persistent data-sharing challenges.
States
State of the States: Calif., Ill., Md., Mass., N.Y., Penn.
Here are summaries of recent annual addresses by governors around the country.
Equity & Diversity
Letter to the Editor
School Diversity Unites Students
To the Editor:
John B. King Jr., the former U.S. secretary of education, made an excellent point ("A Dispatch From the Outgoing Education Secretary," Jan. 18, 2017) when he wrote: "Diversity helps more children succeed, broadens their perspectives, and prepares them for the global workforce. I am convinced the growing conflicts in this country over race, religion, and language would be profoundly reduced if our children learned and played alongside classmates who are different from themselves and if they encountered diverse teachers and leaders in their schools."
John B. King Jr., the former U.S. secretary of education, made an excellent point ("A Dispatch From the Outgoing Education Secretary," Jan. 18, 2017) when he wrote: "Diversity helps more children succeed, broadens their perspectives, and prepares them for the global workforce. I am convinced the growing conflicts in this country over race, religion, and language would be profoundly reduced if our children learned and played alongside classmates who are different from themselves and if they encountered diverse teachers and leaders in their schools."
Standards
Letter to the Editor
Updated Teaching Standards Create Better Training Experiences
To the Editor:
I was encouraged to read about the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' modernization ("Revamped National Board Process Stirs Teachers' Interest," Jan. 11, 2017).
I was encouraged to read about the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' modernization ("Revamped National Board Process Stirs Teachers' Interest," Jan. 11, 2017).
Federal
Report Roundup
Growth in Charter School Population
For the first time, the number of students enrolled in charter schools has surpassed 3 million nationwide, finds the latest annual report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Special Education
Report Roundup
Autism
Adults with autism spectrum disorders often leverage strong interests into careers and ways of calming themselves, but many teachers discourage strong interests as limiting, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in the journal Occupational Therapy in Mental Health.
Families & the Community
Report Roundup
Parent Involvement
Early-childhood programs that focus on building low-income parents' social supports and making their interactions with their children more positive can improve the long-term outcomes for children in poverty, according to an online-first report out this month in the journal Child Development.
Mathematics
Report Roundup
Research Report: Achievement Gap
Achievement gaps in math between Latino students and their white counterparts set in before kindergarten, says a new report by Child Trends' Hispanic Institute.
Equity & Diversity
Report Roundup
Research Report: Teachers
District responses to content-area teacher shortages could hamstring learning for low-income and minority students in special education, math, science, and bilingual education, according to a report by the Learning Policy Institute.
Families & the Community
Report Roundup
Absenteeism
A little effort can go a long way to reducing student absenteeism, finds a federal study: Even a single postcard can get students back to school.
IT Infrastructure & Management
FCC Yanks Report on E-Rate Success
The FCC rescinded a report showing its own program has helped spur falling bandwidth prices and new access to high-speed broadband for schools and libraries.
IT Infrastructure & Management
FCC Alters 'Lifeline' Program for Subsidized Broadband
Following a policy reversal by the FCC, nine companies will no longer be able to participate in a federal program that offers subsidized internet access to low-income Americans.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Mass. Teacher Starts 'Uber for Substitutes'
A veteran teacher, frustrated with the amount of movies and busywork she saw in classes with substitute teachers, has come up with a solution that Harvard Ed. Magazine refers to as "Uber for substitute teachers."
Science
News in Brief
Texas Likely to Keep Lessons Challenging Evolution
The Texas board of education has moved closer to tweaking—but still preserving—high school science curriculum requirements that teachers and academics say cast doubt on the theory of evolution.
School & District Management
News in Brief
District Chief Is Targeted for Comment About Trump
Maine's Republican Party is accusing a school superintendent of pushing a political agenda after he suggested an attack on several black students was the result of President Donald Trump's stance on immigrants and minorities.
Education Funding
News in Brief
S.D. Rejects Transparency for Scholarship Fund
South Dakota lawmakers last week rejected a bill that was meant to increase transparency in the state's school choice scholarship program.
School & District Management
News in Brief
More H.S. Students Support First Amendment Freedoms
Most high schoolers believe that people should be able to express unpopular opinions in public. But they're less supportive of allowing people to publicly share opinions or posts on social media that are bullying or offensive.
Every Student Succeeds Act
News in Brief
Adviser Asserts President Will Repeal Common Core
President Donald Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway last week claimed in an interview with CNN that the president plans to move ahead with his campaign promise to repeal the Common Core State Standards. But that's a problematic assertion.
Education Funding
News in Brief
School Flood Damage Could Top $60 Million
Officials estimate that it will cost more than $62 million and years of work to repair flooded schools in Baton Rouge, La.