August 9, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 44
Education
Letter to the Editor
Union Hostility to NCLB: Seeing a Credibility Gap
In regard to "Report Details NEA Funding of Groups That Criticize NCLB" (News in Brief, Washington section, July 26, 2006):
Education
Letter to the Editor
Why Women in Math Oppose Panel Member
I would like to clarify a point raised in your coverage of the Association for Women in Mathematics’ concern regarding Camilla Persson Benbow’s presence on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel ("Women’s Association Demands Removal of Researcher From National Math Panel," edweek.org, June 28, 2006; "Special-Interest Groups Confront National Math Panel," July 12, 2006).
Education
A Washington Roundup
No Rehearing for Race Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by a group of parents to reopen their challenge to the Lynn, Mass., school district’s student-assignment plan, which promotes diversity by using race as a secondary factor to assign students to schools.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Department Sets Final Rule on Accessible Materials
The Department of Education has released a final rule on the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, which seeks to ensure the availability of universally designed instructional materials.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Audit Chides Leaders Council on Federal Procurement Rules
The Education Leaders Council failed to follow federal procurement rules when it paid $17.5 million to technology companies working on a federal grant, the Department of Education’s inspector general concluded last month.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Voc. Ed., Finance Officials Confirmed by Senate
Troy R. Justesen has been confirmed by the Senate as the Department of Education’s assistant secretary for vocational and adult education.
Education
A Washington Roundup
House Backs School Limits on Social-Networking Sites
The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would require school districts to restrict their students’ access at school to the many “social networking” Web sites, such as MySpace.com.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Ed. Dept. Shortens Math Adviser’s Job
The Department of Education has terminated ahead of schedule the contract of W. Stephen Wilson, a scholar hired to advise the department on math issues, including the creation of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel.
Federal
Federal File
Some Conditions May Apply
Four years ago, Congress approved a bill creating the Institute of Education Sciences, a retooling of the Department of Education’s research operations that lawmakers hoped would produce independent work, free of political influence.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
NCES Counts Librarians As an Instructional Cost
The National Center for Education Statistics has changed its definition of what constitutes an instructional cost, making it easier for states to declare they allocate 65 percent or more for instructional costs, as called for under a policy idea that backers have dubbed the “65 percent solution.”
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Md. Students Get Option to Avoid Graduation Exams
Maryland students can avoid taking some high-stakes end-of-course tests as long as they post high scores on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams in the same subjects, state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick announced.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Early-Childhood Advocates Seek Ariz. Ballot Measure
Early-childhood-education advocates in Arizona hope to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would raise tobacco taxes to pay for a variety of preschool services.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Microsoft Settlement Aids Calif. Schools
California schools will soon receive more than $400 million for educational technology needs as a result of a settlement in a state antitrust case against the Microsoft Corp.
Assessment
International Comparison
Next year, Minnesota will assess its students on a grander scale—through the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS. The heavily scrutinized exam offers nation-by-nation comparisons of students’ ability in those subjects.
Education
Report Roundup
Youth Obesity
An overwhelming majority of adults are concerned about the expanding waistlines of children in the United States, with 84 percent viewing childhood obesity as a “major problem,” according to a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll.
Education
Report Roundup
Alcohol Consumption
The study surveyed 43,093 adults nationwide in 2001-02 about their experiences with alcohol. It found that 47 percent of adults who started drinking alcohol before age 14 had battled alcohol addiction sometime in their lives, compared with 9 percent of the respondents who started drinking at age 21 or older.
Education
Report Roundup
Education Overview
A new primer on public education sketches an overview of the nation’s schools that shows that nine out of every 10 K-12 students are educated in public schools, the country has more than 14,000 school districts, and more than 90 percent of funding for public education comes from state and local sources.
Education
Report Roundup
Summer Meals
The report from the Washington-based research and advocacy organization also found that participation in summer-meals programs fell by 8.1 percent from July 2000 to July 2005. It concludes that sponsoring groups and potential sponsors were put off by the programs’ complex reporting and accounting requirements, causing some to drop the programs and others to decide not to offer them.
Education
Report Roundup
Status of Teaching
In an annual telephone poll on public perceptions of various professions, conducted last month, 52 percent of the more than 1,000 adults surveyed said that teaching is an occupation of “very great prestige,” and 22 percent said it is an occupation of “considerable prestige.”
Education
Report Roundup
Study: States Unclear on Meaning of Passing
The process of setting passing scores on state tests used to judge schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act lacks transparency in 20 states, says a report from Education Sector.
Ed-Tech Policy
Online Window Opens on Undersea World
From the dry sanctuary of a classroom, students can now wade deep into the waters off Cape Hatteras, N.C., probing the sea bottom in search of a famed Civil War armored turret gunboat—once a fearsome mass of steam power and gun turrets, now a skeleton of iron and rust.
Ed-Tech Policy
Software Program Aims to Combat Bullying
An Australian company is trying to interest U.S. schools in a new tool to combat bullying: an online voting system that lets students identify bullies.
Ed-Tech Policy
Minnesota Teachers Get Engineering Software
A high-tech firm has offered Minnesota teachers free mechanical-engineering and design software potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a bid to foster student interest in math, science, and engineering.
Ed-Tech Policy
Experts Offer Toolkit for Use of School Data
The Educational Testing Service and the State Educational Technology Directors Association have released a toolkit to help local and state officials implement data-management systems.
Curriculum
Zoo School Gets New Quarters With View of Rain Forest
After years in cramped quarters, students attending Cincinnati’s Zoo Academy are moving into a new state-of-the-art building this fall.
Curriculum
Body-Image Curriculum Crafted to Help Middle School Girls
Looks matter, and it’s unrealistic to pretend otherwise, say the crafters of a new curriculum that focuses on improving the body image of girls in middle school.
Ed-Tech Policy
New Blog Is Devoted to Workings of National Mathematics Panel
Seems as though everybody with a laptop and a creative impulse has a blog these days—on politics, religion, celebrity, or simply themselves. Now, the blogosphere has spawned another entrant on a topic of probably limited cultural but stronger educational interest: the National Mathematics Advisory Panel.
Curriculum
Former Reading Czar Teams Up With PR Executive on Book
The man who spearheaded the use of “scientifically based reading research” to drive instructional changes in the nation’s elementary classrooms has teamed up with the public relations experts who helped spread the influence of that work among policymakers.
Curriculum
AFT Increases Dues to Boost Recruiting, Political Organizing
The American Federation of Teachers has approved a dues increase aimed at stepping up recruitment and political organizing.