June 7, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 39
Education
Events
5-7—Technology: 2006 National Educational Computing Conference, sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education, for educators, in San Diego. Contact: Donella Evoniuk, ISTE, 480 Charnelton St., Eugene, OR 97401; (541) 434-9590; e-mail: neccinfo@iste.org; Web site: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/about_NECC/contact_info.php.
July
5-7—Technology: 2006 National Educational Computing Conference, sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education, for educators, in San Diego. Contact: Donella Evoniuk, ISTE, 480 Charnelton St., Eugene, OR 97401; (541) 434-9590; e-mail: neccinfo@iste.org; Web site: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/about_NECC/contact_info.php.
School & District Management
Time on His Side
In his nearly 11-year tenure at the helm of the Boston public schools, Thomas W. Payzant has maintained a relentless focus on instruction.
Mathematics
Administration Hopes to Begin Grant Cycle at Math Panel’s Midpoint
Members of a newly formed panel on mathematics are only beginning their work, but Bush administration officials are already signaling that they believe the advisory group could begin shaping federal policy very soon.
Federal
Guidelines Offered for Meaningful Studies of Achievement in Charters
A national panel is raising concerns about the quality of much of the research to date on charter school achievement, and has outlined recommendations to help ensure better analyses in the future.
Student Well-Being
‘Choking Game’ Yields Varying Responses From Educators
A spate of deaths among young people around the country in the past year has brought further media attention to an asphyxial activity known as "the choking game."
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Making Good on a Promise
Education advocates from Boston-based Jobs for the Future want to improve the current educational climate for dropouts, and they think Oprah Winfrey might be able to help.
Student Achievement
Project Yields Gains for New Zealand’s Maori Pupils
Like the United States and many other countries around the world, New Zealand has been stymied for decades by achievement gaps between students of different ancestry. In New Zealand’s case, concern centers on students who are Maori, members of tribes that inhabited its islands hundreds of years before Capt. James Cook put them on the map in the 1700s.
School & District Management
Study Questions Push for Smaller High Schools
When it comes to high school size, smaller might not be better, concludes a national study by researchers from Michigan State University.
Federal
Bid to Make English the ‘National Language’ Raises Many Questions
The contentious effort in Congress to revamp U.S. immigration policy has intensified interest in how best to promote the instruction and use of English among immigrants.
College & Workforce Readiness
For Some Students, GED Test in Spanish Is Best Alternative
Earning a high school diploma is one of the milestones for students who come to the United States from other countries. But for those who arrive in their middle to late teens, learning enough English to earn a diploma can seem all but impossible.
Teacher Preparation
Teacher Ed. Faulted on Reading Preparation
A new report suggests that most colleges of education are doing an inadequate job of preparing elementary teachers for what is arguably their most important task: teaching children to read. While they may not disagree with this conclusion, many researchers and teacher-educators are questioning the science behind the study, which chastises education schools for failing to teach the “science of reading.”
Assessment
Indian Students Outperform Blacks on NAEP
American Indian students tend to lag behind their white and Asian-American peers on National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and mathematics tests in 4th and 8th grade, but they score higher on average than African-American students, according to a first-of-its-kind federal analysis.
Assessment
‘Condition of Education’: U.S. Has Stiff Competition Abroad
The older American students get, the more there is to worry about in their academic performance compared with that of peers abroad, a federal summary of recent international assessments shows.
Federal
Education Dept. Warns of Inaccurate NCLB E-Mails
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking to debunk widely circulated e-mails that erroneously say the No Child Left Behind Act mandates that students who fail their 10th grade reading and math tests must accept an inferior high school completion certificate that would prohibit them from attending college or vocational school.
Curriculum
San Diego School Board Retreats From 9th Grade Physics Course
Five years after refashioning their science curriculum to move physics to the first year of high school, San Diego district officials have retreated from that approach in the wake of complaints from parents and teachers.
Education
Schools Let Seniors Stand and Deliver
More than 100 schools across 25 states opened their doors to parents and community members last month, so that students could showcase their readiness for high school graduation.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Manual High Commentary: Two Differing Reactions
Gary Lichtenstein’s Commentary, “What Went Wrong at Manual High?” (May 17, 2006), about Denver’s Manual High School conversion to smaller schools misses the mark on both the facts and analysis.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Judging Performance Pay From Actual Experience
I have seen the recent flurry of letters and Commentary essays in your pages regarding performance-based compensation ("Aligning the System," Commentary, March 29, 2006; "Teacher Pay for Performance," Commentary, April 5, 2006; "Teacher Pay and Student Learning," Letters, May 10, 2006).
Education
Report Roundup
Screen Time
The survey of more than 1,000 parents by the Menlo Park, Calif.-based Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that, on average, youngsters spent 59 minutes a day watching TV, 24 minutes watching DVDs or videos, six minutes playing video games, and seven minutes on computers, for or more than 1½ hours of screen-media exposure. The parents said their children spent 40 minutes a day being read to or reading.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Alternative Strategies To Build Comprehension
I agree with E.D. Hirsch Jr. that “deadening comprehension strategies” do little to impart effective knowledge to students ("Reading-Comprehension Skills? What Are They Really?," Commentary, April 26, 2006).
Education
Report Roundup
Bible Literacy
Nearly all of the three dozen English professors surveyed from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, and other top U.S. universities agreed that students who have a basic understanding of the Bible fare better academically than those who don’t.
Education
Report Roundup
District Reform
The study included a survey of 115 principals as well as three case studies of individual districts. The results show that successful districts use testing as part of a process of continuous improvement, and those districts place a high priority on professional development. The study also found a balance between centralized and decentralized strategies.
Education
Letter to the Editor
What Parental ‘Magic’ Is E.D. Hirsch Proposing?
I am displeased by an advertisement in your May 3, 2006, issue promoting E.D. Hirsch Jr.’s new book, The Knowledge Deficit. It sends a nasty subliminal political message to readers.
Education
Report Roundup
Graduation Rates Lag for U.S. Black Males
Only 45 percent of the country’s African-American male students graduate in four years, compared with 70 percent of white male students, according to a study by a philanthropic group.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Questioning a Speaker’s Knowledge of Poverty
In your May 3, 2006, In Perspective story, "Payne's Pursuit," you feature the work of Ruby K. Payne, a popular author and speaker on the subject of poverty and its effects on children and their educational success.
Ed-Tech Policy
Film Shows Brains of Cyclists at Work
Creators of a new IMAX film on how the brains of world-class bicyclists work hope the 40-minute documentary will spark students’ interest in science and math.
Teaching Profession
Unions’ Deals With Brokers Raise Issues
The New York state attorney general’s office is close to announcing a settlement with the 525,000-member New York State United Teachers over a relationship between the union and ING Group, a large financial-services company based in the Netherlands.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Head Start Bureau Elevated Within HHS Department
A reorganization of the Administration for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services has resulted in a more direct connection between the Head Start Bureau and the head of the agency that oversees the federal preschool program.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Senate OKs General Counsel for Education Department
The Senate has voted to confirm Kent D. Talbert as the general counsel of the Department of Education.