March 11, 1992
Education Week, Vol. 11, Issue 25
Education
Ala. House Backs Major Education-Reform Package
After debate, delays, and amendments, the Alabama House has approved a major package of education-reform measures that, among other changes, would revamp the state's 50-year-old teacher-tenure act and offer principals the option of giving up their tenure rights in exchange for a pay increase.
School Climate & Safety
N.Y.C. Tightens School Security in Wake of Shooting
In the wake of the fatal shooting of two students at a Brooklyn high school, New York City officials last week unveiled a $28-million initiative designed to curb violence in the city's schools.
Education
News Updates
A former top deputy to Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig of California is among several people ordered to appear before state or federal grand juries probing allegations that Mr. Honig violated conflict-of-interest laws by aiding his wife's consulting firm. (See Education Week, Jan. 8, 1992.)
Education
State News Roundup
Spending restrictions and a depressed economy have forced Massachusetts' school districts to cut academic programs, staff sizes, and transportation services and to institute fees for extracurricular activities, according to a survey conducted by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.
Education
Chairman of Migrant-Ed. Panel, Lawmakers Square Off
Internal squabbling dominated a meeting of the National Commission on Migrant Education last week, as its chairman took exception to critical public comments two members of the Congress had made about a draft of the panel's upcoming report.
Education
State Journal: Big or little dinosaurs; Hard-bottom degree
Iowa groups representing rural schools and conservatives are mounting an effort to oust State Director of Education William L. Lepley.
Education
Asians Often Face Bigotry in Schools, Report Says
Asian-Americans in public schools are often exposed to bigotry, while receiving little academic help, a report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights asserts.
Education
Focus Shifts Away From Cuts, Back to Reform in Ohio
As they emerge from a year dominated by state budget cuts, leading Ohio lawmakers and educators appear to be making progress toward drafting substantial school-finance changes and wide-ranging classroom and governance reforms.
Education
Experts Urge Caution in Expanding State-Level NAEP
A group of leading scholars convened to evaluate the first state-level assessment of student achievement last week urged caution in continuing the program.
Education
'Inadequate' State Funding Seen Impeding School Readiness
A "pattern of inadequate investment" by states in child care and early-childhood-development services is preventing children from entering school ready to learn and poor families from working and becoming self-sufficient, a report issued last week by the Children's Defense Fund contends.
Education
G.A.O. Examines Drug-Prevention Efforts for Youths
Promising drug-abuse prevention programs offer adolescents comprehensive services and activities, the General Accounting Office concludes in a report.
Education
Pa. Board Weighs Shift To Requiring Learning Outcomes
The Pennsylvania State Board of Education is slated this week to vote on rules that would make the state the first to require students to master a set of learning outcomes, rather than take a prescribed number of courses, in order to graduate.
Education
Wisconsin Court Upholds State's Test of Vouchers
In a ruling hailed by school-choice advocates, the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week upheld the experimental Milwaukee program that allows a limited number of children from low-income families to attend nonsectarian private schools at state expense.
Ed-Tech Policy
Computer System Gets Partial Credit for Increases in Test Scores
A new computer system is partly responsible for dramatic increases in student-test scores in Montgomery County, Md., school officials there suggest.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
This is a response to your egregiously biased attack on "Hooked on Phonics'' ("Claims of Success for 'Hooked on Phonics' Called Into Question,'' Feb. 12, 1992). A quick scan of the subheadings exposes that bias: "Read 'Almost' Anything''; "Simple-Minded Approach''; "Sour Grapes Critics.''
This is a response to your egregiously biased attack on "Hooked on Phonics'' ("Claims of Success for 'Hooked on Phonics' Called Into Question,'' Feb. 12, 1992). A quick scan of the subheadings exposes that bias: "Read 'Almost' Anything''; "Simple-Minded Approach''; "Sour Grapes Critics.''
Education
Opinion
'Parent Co-oping' as a Tool for Reform
We are currently in a period of rekindled enthusiasm and escalating rhetoric about the role parents can play in public education. Their involvement was a theme sounded by President Bush and the nation's governors at the education summit.
Education
Opinion
Education and Life
Remember those days in elementary and secondary school when it seemed like an eternity before you would graduate and become grown-up? Remember how even the transition from one grade to another seemed to take forever? The reason time moved so slowly when we were young is because the psychological sense of time was different.
Education
Opinion
Please, No More Facts; Just Better Teaching
Since A Nation at Risk was published in 1983, school reformers have assumed that changing the subject matter students study and improving their academic performance will increase the nation's economic competitiveness globally. Presidents and candidates for President have pushed insistently for more math and science in the curriculum and higher scores on international tests.
Education
Court Rejects 24-Hour Ban on Broadcast Indecency
The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to allow the Federal Communications Commission to implement a total ban on indecency on radio and television.