Issues

October 25, 2017

Education Week, Vol. 37, Issue 10
Teaching Profession Teachers Pair Up to Improve Practice
An expanding Tennessee professional development program matches teachers based on their complementary strengths and weaknesses.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 24, 2017
6 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act Some States With 'English-Only' Laws Won't Offer Tests in Other Languages
Florida and other states say "English-only" laws prevent them from providing state tests to English-learners in their native language even though ESSA urges them to do so.
Corey Mitchell, October 24, 2017
6 min read
Federal With Key Positions Still Open, Staffing at Ed. Dept. Lags
The Trump team is significantly lagging when it comes to filing top positions at the U.S. Department of Education, compared to the previous administration's pace.
Alyson Klein, October 24, 2017
3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Getty/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Five Steps for a 100 Percent College-Acceptance Rate
Getting high schoolers out the door isn’t enough, writes a principal about his high school’s “astounding” college attendance record.
Sergio Alejandro Garcia, October 24, 2017
4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Getty/Getty
Student Well-Being Opinion How Teachers Can Find the Time for Social-Emotional Learning
We need to distill social-emotional and character education down to the most essential components, writes Hunter Gehlbach.
Hunter Gehlbach, October 24, 2017
4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Getty/Getty
Every Student Succeeds Act Opinion We Can Fix Chronic Absenteeism
ESSA’s new transparency and accountability regulations offer an opportunity to rethink attendance, write Hedy N. Chang and Phyllis Jordan.
Hedy N. Chang & Phyllis W. Jordan, October 24, 2017
5 min read
Illustration of an old phone with a home on one side and students on the other
Eva Vázquez for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion Smaller Classes Serve a Larger Purpose
Smaller classes could help bridge the gap between home and school, writes former teacher Marc Vincenti.
Marc Vincenti, October 24, 2017
4 min read
Every Student Succeeds Act Will ESSA Reduce States' Accountability in Special Education?
Some advocates worry that goals states have set under the Every Student Succeeds Act won't move the needle for students with disabilities who have long struggled with low achievement.
Christina A. Samuels, October 24, 2017
6 min read
Reading & Literacy Letter to the Editor Children's Books Are Indeed Biased
To the Editor:
In response to the recent Education Week article "Does The Cat in the Hat Sustain Racist Stereotypes?" (Oct. 11, 2017), the answer is yes. This is not to argue for book burning or banning but to suggest that teachers and educators at large, as well as U.S. Department of Education officials, should develop strategies to help teachers interpret problematic representations of race, class, and gender in texts for young readers. This is not a new issue: In the late 1970s, British author Bob Dixon argued that virtually nothing was being done to counteract the racial, gender, and class stereotypes found in many children's books or to promote greater diversity. Research also shows that many U.S. history texts routinely leave out or conflate important parts of the past, telling only one side of the story. Reading books with an eye for implicit and explicit messages is a service to readers, not an effort to "cleanse" the past.
October 24, 2017
1 min read
Ellen Moir
Ellen Moir
Education News in Brief Transition
Ellen Moir, the founder of the New Teacher Center, has announced she will retire as chief executive officer next summer.
October 24, 2017
1 min read
School Climate & Safety Report Roundup Middle Schools
Students who attend a middle-grades school may take a hit to their self-confidence in reading—but not to their actual grades, according to a new study in the Journal of Early Adolescence.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Special Education Report Roundup Research Report: Special Education
Teachers and doctors should keep in mind a child's relative age when considering whether he has an attention deficit, finds a new study in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 24, 2017
1 min read
English-Language Learners Report Roundup Research Report: Bilingual Education
In 24 states and the District of Columbia, dual-language learners comprise more than 20 percent of children ages 8 and younger.
Corey Mitchell, October 24, 2017
1 min read
School & District Management Report Roundup School Leaders
The highest-performing education systems on international tests each take a systemic approach to recruiting, training, and deploying school leaders, finds a report by the National Center on Education and the Economy.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 24, 2017
1 min read
School & District Management Report Roundup Research Report: Testing
Merely getting rid of standardized tests is unlikely to significantly elevate the quality of teachers' lessons without other reforms, finds a study in the journal Educational Researcher.
Stephen Sawchuk, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Classroom Technology News in Brief Virtual Charter Chain Fined $2 Million By California for Violations, Irregularities
In long-awaited results of a 1½-year investigation, California's finance and education chiefs have issued a critical audit of the online charter school chain California Virtual Academies, finding several contractual violations and irregularities and imposing a nearly $2 million fine.
Tribune News Service, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Families & the Community News in Brief N.Y.C. Charter Network Issuing Report Cards for Parents
One of the largest charter school networks in the country has started issuing report cards for its parents—scoring them on how well they support their children in school.
The Associated Press, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Ed-Tech Policy News in Brief Google Commits $1 Billion to Prepare Students, Adults for Future Workplace
Google has announced a multipronged initiative to help students and workers better prepare for a rapidly changing labor market.
Benjamin Herold, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Reading & Literacy News in Brief District's Decision to Pull Novel Revives Debate on Censorship, Book's Lessons
A Mississippi district's decision to pull To Kill a Mockingbird from its 8th grade reading list has lit up Twitter, grabbed newspaper headlines as far away as England, and renewed debate about censorship in schools and the book's enduring value in 2017.
Tribune News Service, October 24, 2017
1 min read
School & District Management News in Brief North Carolina Drops Charges Against Ferguson, Mo., Superintendent
Authorities in North Carolina have dropped charges that had accused the Ferguson-Florissant, Mo., schools superintendent of misusing a credit card from his former school district.
Tribune News Service, October 24, 2017
1 min read
School Choice & Charters News in Brief N.Y. Charter Schools Get Go-Ahead to Certify Their Own Teachers
Some charter schools in New York state will soon be allowed to train and certify their own teachers, likely the first instance of a charter school being granted such authority.
Arianna Prothero, October 24, 2017
1 min read
School & District Management News in Brief Oregon and South Dakota Losing Embattled State Schools Chiefs
The chief state school officers in both Oregon and South Dakota are leaving their posts.
Daarel Burnette II, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Education Funding News in Brief Miss. High Court Says State Not Obligated to Fund School Budget Formula
The Mississippi Legislature does not have an obligation to fully fund a school budget formula that was put into law two decades ago, the state Supreme Court said last week in upholding a ruling from a lower court.
The Associated Press, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Early Childhood News in Brief Young Children's Use of Mobile Tech Triples in Short Span, Survey Finds
Young children are spending more time using mobile devices like a smartphone or tablet than ever before, according to a new survey from Common Sense Media.
Sarah Schwartz, October 24, 2017
1 min read
Accountability ESSA Brings User-Friendly Makeover of State Report Cards
State report cards, the much-maligned and politically fraught web portals for conveying how schools stack up, are set for a head-to-toe makeover, both in how they look and the information they provide.
Daarel Burnette II, October 20, 2017
6 min read
Bill Gates detailed new investments by his foundation in K-12 education at the Council of the Great City Schools’ annual conference in Cleveland.
Bill Gates detailed new investments by his foundation in K-12 education at the Council of the Great City Schools’ annual conference in Cleveland.
Clarence Tabb Jr./CGCS
Education Funding Gates Foundation Announces New $1.7B for K-12
Bill Gates outlined new investments for school networks, curricula, and research and development, and a pivot away from long-time investments that are difficult to sustain or scale up.
Francisco Vara-Orta, October 19, 2017
5 min read
Puerto Rico Education Secretary Julia Keleher works at her makeshift headquarters in the convention center in San Juan, trying to find out information about the state of the nearly 1,200 schools in the U.S. territory.
Puerto Rico Education Secretary Julia Keleher works at her makeshift headquarters in the convention center in San Juan, trying to find out information about the state of the nearly 1,200 schools in the U.S. territory.
Swikar Patel/Education Week
School & District Management Puerto Rico Faces Huge Challenges in Rebuilding, Reinventing K-12 Education
A positive transformation for the island's long struggling schools might be crippled before it can even start—or never take place at all.
Andrew Ujifusa, October 19, 2017
13 min read
William Lager, center, founder of Ohio's largest online charter school, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), speaks to hundreds of supporters on May 9 during a rally outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
William Lager, center, founder of Ohio's largest online charter school, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), speaks to hundreds of supporters on May 9 during a rally outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
Julie Carr Smyth/AP
Student Well-Being Ohio's Largest Virtual School Threatens Closure Amid Enrollment Controversy
At the heart of the dispute are software-login records, which Ohio officials used to determine attendance and enrollment at the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.
Benjamin Herold, October 19, 2017
6 min read
Roman Catholic Pastor Vincent Paul Chavez of the Saint Therese school and parish in Albuquerque, N.M., protests proposed state science standards on behalf of the Santa Fe Archdiocese outside a public hearing in Santa Fe on Oct. 16.
Roman Catholic Pastor Vincent Paul Chavez of the Saint Therese school and parish in Albuquerque, N.M., protests proposed state science standards on behalf of the Santa Fe Archdiocese outside a public hearing in Santa Fe on Oct. 16.
Morgan Lee/AP
Science Climate Change, Evolution Cause Curriculum Dust-Up in N.M.
Amid intense pushback, state officials abandoned draft language in its science standards that did not reflect the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change and evolution.
Stephen Sawchuk, October 18, 2017
5 min read