March 29, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 29
Recruitment & Retention
Scarcity of Language Teachers Retards Growth
Even with growing demand and the prospect of new federal and state aid for improving foreign-language instruction, expanding offerings is especially difficult because of a shortage of qualified teachers in what are deemed critical languages, many experts say.
School & District Management
Data Scarce for Gauging Scope of Language Study
By all accounts, interest in language classes outside the traditional offerings has grown over the past several years as more attention is paid to the need for speakers of Arabic and Chinese to help deal with the United States’ security and economic concerns. But hard data are lacking in a field that is measured only periodically.
Federal
Students Taking Spanish, French; Leaders Pushing Chinese, Arabic
At a time when many policymakers and business leaders are clamoring for American children to take up the languages of Asia and the Middle East to help buttress the United States’ international competitiveness and national security, the policies and resources are as much of a mismatch as the languages that are being taught.
Federal
U.S. Panel Weighs Accountability in Higher Education
College presidents last week told a federal commission considering ways to bring more accountability to higher education that some measures for assessing a college’s effectiveness, including graduation rates and standardized tests, might present problems.
Early Childhood
HHS Plan to Restructure Children’s Programs Draws Fire
A plan to restructure children’s programs in the Department of Health and Human Services is drawing fire from advocacy groups and members of Congress.
Federal
Control of Regional Education Labs Shifting
Four of the Department of Education’s 10 regional educational laboratories will be run by different contractors, and all of them will have a revised mission, under a round of newly awarded five-year contracts worth more than $326 million.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Faults Calif. on College Preparation
California students face major roadblocks en route to college, according to a report, which found the Golden State sends a smaller proportion of high school seniors—23 percent—to four-year colleges than any other state but Mississippi.
Education
Measures of Success in Hidalgo, Texas
The school district’s results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills steadily increased, so that more than 90 percent of students met standards in core subjects.
Achievement on State Tests
The school district’s results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills steadily increased, so that more than 90 percent of students met standards in core subjects.
Federal
Gulf Coast Districts Get Restart Aid, But Ask Whether It Will Be Enough
Gulf Coast school districts teetering on the brink of financial disaster after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck last year have high hopes for the pot of federal aid intended to help them recoup money they used to get up and running again. But many have yet to see the funds, and others say it won’t be enough.
Education
Honors & Award
Honors & Awards
The Denver-based Education Commission of the States’ National Center for Learning and Citizenship has announced the first round of members for its 100 District Leaders for Citizenship and Service-Learning Network. The 44 superintendents and school board members are recognized for their commitment to citizenship education and service-learning in their districts. They will meet at the National School Boards Association Annual Conference in Chicago next month to discuss their work. An additional 56 members will be selected this fall.
ECS District Leaders Network
The Denver-based Education Commission of the States’ National Center for Learning and Citizenship has announced the first round of members for its 100 District Leaders for Citizenship and Service-Learning Network. The 44 superintendents and school board members are recognized for their commitment to citizenship education and service-learning in their districts. They will meet at the National School Boards Association Annual Conference in Chicago next month to discuss their work. An additional 56 members will be selected this fall.
Education
Events
26-27—Curriculum: Animals in the Classroom Workshop, sponsored by the Pet Care Trust, for K-12 educators, at the Humane Society in Colorado Springs, Colo. Contact: John Pitts, 3881 Leland Valley Road W., Quilcene, WA 98376; (360) 765-3237; e-mail: jlpitts@olympus.net; Web site: www.petcaretrust.org.
April
26-27—Curriculum: Animals in the Classroom Workshop, sponsored by the Pet Care Trust, for K-12 educators, at the Humane Society in Colorado Springs, Colo. Contact: John Pitts, 3881 Leland Valley Road W., Quilcene, WA 98376; (360) 765-3237; e-mail: jlpitts@olympus.net; Web site: www.petcaretrust.org.
School & District Management
Upward Journey
The schools in Hidalgo used to be among the worst in Texas. But now, the low-income Latino children who fill its classrooms are outperforming students in wealthier, whiter communities.
Education
Opinion
Chat Wrap-Up: The Problem With Boys
On March 15, the topic for discussion was “The Problem With Boys,” and readers addressed their questions to Thomas Newkirk, a University of New Hampshire professor of English and the author of Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture (Heinemann, 2002).
Federal
Group Signs Off With Progress Report on Teacher Quality
A high-profile group formed to boost the quality of the nation’s teaching corps says progress toward that goal has been just middling over the past three years.
Assessment
Urban Schools Continue Test-Score Gains, Report Finds
Students in urban school districts have made steady gains on state tests in the past four years, in many cases outpacing their states’ average rates of improvement, a study issued last week concludes.
Special Education
Wide Variation Seen in Testing of Students With Disabilities
Driven by the accountability movement and the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, states are requiring students in special education, like their peers in general education, to take state-mandated tests.
Equity & Diversity
Reduced Tuition for Undocumented Students Debated
As immigrants have moved into new territory in growing numbers, state lawmakers are becoming increasingly embroiled in debates over what public services to provide the newcomers among them living in the United States illegally.
School & District Management
Opinion
Keeping Reforms on Track
Authors Jane L. David and Larry Cuban offer guidance to reformers and citizens on how to cut through the hype surrounding the different types of school reforms.
School & District Management
In Boston, Stability Is Key Issue in Search for Leader
With three months left in Thomas W. Payzant’s decade-long tenure as superintendent of the Boston schools, those charged with finding a successor are getting an earful from scholars, community groups, and civic leaders as they consider how much of a change agent the district needs.
Federal
Complaint Targets NCLB Transfers in Calif.
A team of conservative legal scholars last week filed a complaint charging that two Southern California school districts fail to offer students school choice as required under federal law and asked the U.S. Department of Education to withhold the districts’ federal funds.
Classroom Technology
Wis. Court Sides With Virtual Schools
A legal challenge to a virtual charter school in Wisconsin has failed, the second time in three years that a state court has turned down arguments from Wisconsin’s largest teachers’ union that the Internet schools are illegal.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Aligning the System
Theodore Hershberg and Barbara Lea-Kruger make their case for linking teachers' pay to student achievement.
Education Funding
International Baccalaureate May Get Lift From Booster Bush
Known for its demanding curriculum and global outlook, the International Baccalaureate is seeking to capitalize on an endorsement from this country’s top elected official, even as it faces a challenge at the grassroots level.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Missing the Mark on Graduation Rates
Education researchers Jay P. Greene, Marcus A. Winters, and Christopher B. Swanson respond to an essay economist Lawrence Mishel wrote in Education Week in which he criticized the data they used to calculate high school graduation rates.
Education
Letter to the Editor
NSF Program Evaluation Reaped Many Benefits
As a former director of one of the National Science Foundation’s Local Systemic Change Through Teacher Enhancement programs, I am writing to clarify and expand upon several key points regarding the Horizon Research Inc. evaluation study of the NSF program ("NSF Educator-Training Effort Seen as Helpful," March 8, 2006.).
Education
Letter to the Editor
Dropout Research: Heed Voices of the Underserved
In response to your March 8, 2006, article about Civic Enterprises’ study on dropouts ("H.S. Dropouts Say Lack of Motivation Top Reason to Quit"), I am resisting the urge to say “Well, duh!” to the report’s results.
Education
Letter to the Editor
‘Asian Downside’ Study: Take With a Grain of Salt
Amid the national zeal for turning to Asian and Asian-American students as inspirational models, Deanna Kuhn’s March 8, 2006, Commentary ("Does the Asian Success Formula Have a Downside?") provides a refreshing perspective.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Economics, Knowledge, and the Keys to Success
I began reading “The Exaggerated Dropout Crisis” with great hope. Perhaps we Americans are doing better at graduating our students than we have been led to believe. Then I was stunned by the blithe opening premise of Lawrence Mishel’s exposé: “Knowledge is becoming more important in the economy, and ‘returns to skill’—higher wages for workers with more education—should be growing.”