February 6, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 21
School & District Management
Affirmative Reaction
With race-based admissions policies in legal jeopardy, an elite magnet school dropped affirmative action. The results: plummeting diversity and hard feelings.
Federal
Department Study to Examine Effectiveness of Technology
The Department of Education plans a three-year, $15 million study to gauge the effectiveness of using technology to improve learning. The congressionally mandated study will address a gap in knowledge that for years has frustrated both educators and policymakers.
The Department of Education plans a three-year, $15 million study to gauge the effectiveness of using technology to improve learning. The congressionally mandated study will address a gap in knowledge that for years has frustrated both educators and policymakers.
Education
News in Brief: A Washington Roundup
- Congress Passes Bill
Freezing Low Loan Rate - Bush Names 10 to Literacy Board
- Hispanic Education Panel Formed
Classroom Technology
Maine Laptop Push Advances, But Eyed for Cuts
Maine's ambitious plan to provide middle schoolers with laptop computers faces a fight for its life as state legislators eye it as a source of budget savings.
School & District Management
Researchers, Under Congressional Glare, Trumpet Progress
At a time when federal lawmakers are shining a harsh spotlight on educational research, a group of leading researchers gathered here recently to celebrate some of the field's successes over the past 30 years.
Assessment
Ed. Dept. Hints Idaho's Novel Testing Plan Unacceptable
Idaho's schools chief has warned legislators that an innovative testing plan approved by the state board of education would fail to meet federal testing requirements and could cost the state millions of dollars in federal aid.
Early Childhood
Business Group's Report Advocates 'Preschool for All'
The federal government should establish a new grant program for states to help pay for preschool education for all 3- and 4-year-olds, urges a report scheduled for release this week by the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development.
Education
Education Only a Cameo In State of the Union
Education issues were sidelined at the State of the Union Address last week. But President Bush did offer support for boosting teacher recruitment, improving early-childhood education, and expanding national service programs.
Education
Speaking of Education
Following are highlights from President Bush's Jan. 29 State of the Union Address and the Democratic response from House Minority Leader Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.
Social Studies
Supreme Court Justice Initiates A National Civics Lesson
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy journeyed from the court's marble halls last week to a classroom in a public high school here, where he led students in an unusual discussion about democratic values in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Curriculum
Survey's Sexuality Questions Anger Elementary Parents
A survey given to a handful of students at a California elementary school has prompted angry protests from parents who learned the poll included several probing questions about sexuality.
Education
Leadership
A cadre of newly elected school board members will receive intensive tutorials on education policy and school improvement prior to their service, under an initiative by the Broad Foundation.
Schooling School Boards
A cadre of newly elected school board members will receive intensive tutorials on education policy and school improvement prior to their service, under an initiative by the Broad Foundation.
States
State of the States 2002: New Mexico, Alaska, and Maine
Gov. Gary E. Johnson of New Mexico doesn’t plan on being a lame duck in what will be the last legislative session of his second and final term.
Recruitment & Retention
Revenue Shortfall Prompts Big School Cuts in California
The California legislature adopted $857 million in education budget cuts last week, meeting the governor's goal for reining in state spending in the face of a significant budget shortfall.
School & District Management
Board to Close Fla. 'Voucher' School
A.A. Dixon Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., will likely be closing its doors for good this spring, three years after a state accountability program branded the school with an "F" label and offered its students private school vouchers.
Education Funding
Liability Insurance's Skyrocketing Costs Confound Districts
District officials embarking on shopping trips to their insurance agencies this winter had better take along smelling salts: Over the past year, the cost of liability insurance has skyrocketed, many of the longtime vendors have quit the market, and those that do remain are requiring policyholders to shoulder more risk.
Assessment
New Law Lets Students Opt Out of NAEP
Parents will be able to withdraw their children from the federal assessment program, and students themselves now will be able to bow out, under a provision that experts warn could undermine the accuracy of test scores.
Parents will be able to withdraw their children from the federal assessment program, and students themselves now will be able to bow out, under a provision that experts warn could undermine the accuracy of test scores.
School & District Management
Community Groups Looking to Run Phila. Schools
In a nationally watched move last December, Pennsylvania took over the country's eighth-largest school district. As part of that shift, nonprofit community groups will run low-performing local schools in partnership with for-profit school-management companies or other organizations by fall.
Education
State Journal
Weighing In
Tom Luna, a 43-year-old businessman from Nampa, Idaho, decided a year ago to run for the post of state superintendent of public instruction. But he had one big hurdle to clear: Under state law, he had to earn an undergraduate degree.
Education
Philanthropy
Early Childhood: The Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based foundation, has started a new grantmaking program aimed at early-childhood education.
Education
Retrospective
A National Academy of Sciences panel warns against using standardized tests; a local school board bars a high school production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; lawmakers in Kentucky scrap a proposal that would have made kindergarten attendance a prerequisite for 1st grade; and more.
A National Academy of Sciences panel warns against using standardized tests; a local school board bars a high school production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; lawmakers in Kentucky scrap a proposal that would have made kindergarten attendance a prerequisite for 1st grade; and more.
Education
New York City Local Board Elections Postponed
The New York state legislature has voted to postpone community school board elections in New York City, marking the latest development in a growing debate over how best to run the nation's largest school system.
Assessment
Controversy Surrounds Release Of Maryland Test Results
After a two-month delay for experts to vet some surprising ups and downs in the most recent state-test results, Maryland officials last week gave the scores a clean bill of health and released them.
Education
News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup
- Ala. Board Takes a Stand,
Favors Constitution Review - Bartlett Leaves Md. Board
- N.J. Ruling Leaves Questions
- N.D. Schools Face Violations
Education
News in Brief: A National Roundup
- Roosevelt Averts Layoffs With
$1.4 Million in N.Y. Aid - Former Ky. Education Official Named
No. 2 at Los Angeles District - Groups, Firms Seek to Provide
Services to Phila. Schools - Parents Want 'Traffic Signal'
Removed From Mich. Cafeteria - R.I. Teachers Are Ordered to Remove
Personal Items - Okla. District Gets Flak for
Black-Themed Poem
Education
A Changed Student Body
Fairfax County school officials discontinued the district's affirmative action policies for Thomas Jefferson High School in 1998, on their lawyer's advice. The change had a noticeable effect on the racial composition of the next freshman class, the class of 2002, and on subsequent groups of freshmen. Although the number of African-American and Hispanic applicants has not trended downward since then, the numbers accepted to Thomas Jefferson have fallen from 49 accepted in the class of 2001 to nine in the class of 2005.