January 24, 2001
Education Week, Vol. 20, Issue 19
Standards & Accountability
States Adjust High-Stakes Testing Plans
As states edge toward their deadlines for denying students diplomas based on state tests, many have blinked, either postponing the day of reckoning or modifying their original plans.
Curriculum
Cyber Learning at Online High
Florida High School, the Sunshine State's online secondary school, is attracting the attention of educators and policymakers from across the country. But the question is: Should this model of learning be replicated? Includes the sidebar, "Internet-Style Teacher Guidance."
Early Childhood
Clinton's 'Early-Learning Fund' Quietly Becomes Reality
A little known "early-learning fund"—something that President Clinton proposed three years ago to help local child-care and early-childhood-education providers improve their services—is finally going to make it into the hands of those who need it.
English Learners
Arizona Grapples With Bilingual Ed. Changes
More than two months after Arizona voters passed a law to curb bilingual education, crucial questions on how to implement the measure remain unanswered, leaving confused school district officials scrambling to comply.
Education
Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Two Civil Rights Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in two cases that do not directly involve education but have potentially significant implications for the application of two federal civil rights laws to schools.
Equity & Diversity
Ashcroft's Desegregation Record Questioned
School desegregation emerged as a prominent theme during last week's often-rancorous Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the selection of former Sen. John D. Ashcroft as attorney general.
School desegregation emerged as a prominent theme during last week's often-rancorous Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the selection of former Sen. John D. Ashcroft as attorney general.
Federal
Political Appointees Bid Farewell To Education Department
The final days before the Clinton administration officially handed over the reins of the federal government to the Bush-Cheney team were bittersweet for 180-some appointees at the Education Department.
School Climate & Safety
Wis. Class-Size Study Yields Advice On Teachers' Methods
New findings on a state initiative in Wisconsin suggest that to make the most out of smaller class sizes in the early grades, teachers should focus on basic skills when they have one-on-one contact with students, ask children to discuss and demonstrate what they know, and have a firm, but nurturing, approach to classroom management.
Early Childhood
Study: Early Head Start Raises Parenting Skills, Children's Learning
Early Head Start, which provides federally financed child-development services for low-income infants and toddlers, is benefiting parents as well as children, a study concludes.
States
State of the States 2001: Indiana, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Carolina
Despite warnings that his state has entered a period of economic slowdown, Gov. Frank O’Bannon of Indiana called for more spending to pay for several new education initiatives in his State of the State Address last week.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Online Education Companies Clicking On Hard Times
The overall downturn in the Internet sector, which began last spring, hasn't spared the dozens of education Web businesses that were just getting off the ground. Includes the table, "Dot-Com Doldrums."
The overall downturn in the Internet sector, which began last spring, hasn't spared the dozens of education Web businesses that were just getting off the ground. Includes the table, "Dot-Com Doldrums."
Education Funding
New York To Appeal Order Overturning Its System of Paying for Public Schools
Gov. George E. Pataki of New York has announced that he will appeal a court ruling that declared the state's method of doling out school aid unconstitutional.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Commission To Examine Funding Disparities
- Clinton Announces Efforts To Reduce Youth Violence
- Honoring a King
Education
Regula To Chair Key Appropriations Panel
A former educator and 15-term House member is taking the helm of the House Appropriations Committee panel that oversees the Department of Education's budget.
A former educator and 15-term House member is taking the helm of the House Appropriations Committee panel that oversees the Department of Education's budget.
Education
Special Instruction For Limited-English Students
The percentage of children in programs for students with limited English proficiency dwindles significantly in second- and third-generation immigrant families.
Education
People in the News
Michael LeFlore was named the Afterschool Hero of the Year last week by the Afterschool Alliance and American Isuzu Motors Inc.
School & District Management
U.S. Urged To Rethink High School
For too many graduating seniors, the final year of high school is a "lost opportunity" that needs to be reclaimed, a national commission concludes in its first public report.
Social Studies
Student Sleuths Tracking Down 'Whodunit' To Crack Core Subjects
Wearing safety goggles and testing the pH of unidentified powders, Jocelyn Crosby's forensic-science class at the Genesis II School here is at work on its final project: A millionaire has been "murdered," and the class has been charged with finding the fiend who committed the crime.
Teaching Profession
Top Oakland Administrators To Receive Bonuses Tied to Test Scores
The superintendent of the Oakland, Calif., schools continues to shake up the 54,000-student district.
States
Calif. Test-Based Bonus Plan Gets Off to Rocky Start
Halfway through the school year, money from California's new $667 million test-based awards program hasn't yet made it into either school budgets or educators' bank accounts.
Education
Internet-Style Teacher Guidance
Below are excerpts of e-mail conversations between Betty Vail, a physics teacher for Florida's online high school, and some of her students.
Equity & Diversity
Study: Dearth of Programs For Older Immigrant Students
Programs designed especially for students who know little or no English are concentrated at the elementary level, even though secondary schools enroll a greater proportion of such students, according to a new study. Includes the chart, "Special Instruction For Limited-English Students."
Special Education
Internet Tycoon Gives $250 Million For Cognitive-Disabilities Project
A California couple has promised to donate $250 million to the University of Colorado to create a center for research on technological advances that will help people with cognitive disabilities.