December 20, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 16
Curriculum
Schools Urged to Push Beyond Math, Reading To Broader Curriculum
Reading and math may be getting their due attention under the No Child Left Behind Act, but a lineup of education experts met in Washington last week to argue that the focus of the federal law is not enough to ensure students are receiving a “21st-century education.”
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Gas Company Endows Chair at Okla. Math-Science School
The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics has received a $500,000 gift from the Oklahoma City-based natural-gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. to fund an endowed chair in geophysics at the school. School officials say it is the first endowed chair at an Oklahoma public high school.
Education
People in the News
Noma Anderson
Noma Anderson will become the 2007 president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a Rockville, Md.-based organization that provides research and support for people with communication disabilities.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Fla. High School Students to Select From 440 ‘Majors’
Students will soon face a new decision as they enter Florida high schools: choosing a major.
Education
People in the News
Marco Petruzzi
Marco Petruzzi has been named the president and chief operating officer of Green Dot Public Schools, a nonprofit organization that operates charter schools for the 708,500-student Los Angeles school district.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Ohio Grantmakers Team Up to Seek Education Upgrades
A task force of Ohio foundations and other grantmaking organizations is calling on state leaders to improve public education by adopting five broad, ambitious policy priorities.
Federal
Wales Eliminates National Exams for Many Students
While the United States has shifted towards test-based accountability in recent years, Wales has charted a course for its schools that greatly de-emphasizes standardized student assessments.
Education
People in the News
Sue McAdamis and Cathy Owens
Sue McAdamis and Cathy Owens have been named the president and the director of learning, respectively, for the National Staff Development Council.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Programs Impart Social Skills Along With Literacy
The Voices Reading program is an integrated method that draws on accumulating research that finds close connections between early-reading success and emotional development and behavior.
Special Education
Former Ohio Official Seeks to Help Qatar
Michael Armstrong had a good excuse for missing the annual meeting last month of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Since June, the former head of special education in Ohio has been part of an extensive education reform effort in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.
Teaching Profession
Portland Teachers Petition District
Hundreds of teachers in Portland, Ore., have signed a petition opposing the school district’s work to forge a common curriculum in core subjects.
Special Education
A Washington Roundup
Congress Approves Measure to Authorize Autism Research
Congress has approved a bill that would authorize $945 million over five years to support research, diagnosis, and treatment in the field of autism. The bill now moves to President Bush’s desk for his signature.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Teacher Deduction Renewed; Other Education Bills Passed
Although Congress left the reauthorizations of Head Start and the Higher Education Act for next year, lawmakers approved a few education-related measures before leaving town for the year.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Senate Confirms Tucker as Ed. Dept. Undersecretary
Sara Martinez Tucker has been confirmed to the No. 3 position at the Department of Education, where she will be a key adviser on higher education.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
Audit: KIPP Sought to Charge Alcohol
The KIPP Foundation improperly sought to charge to federal grants more than $10,000 for alcohol and entertainment, according to an audit by the Department of Education’s inspector general.
Teaching Profession
Federal File
Speech Impediment
The chief courtroom lawyer for the Bush administration will try to convince the U.S. Supreme Court next month that the Washington Education Association does not have the right to spend money for political activities that it collects from the paychecks of the state’s nonunion educators.
Education
Report Roundup
Beverage Contracts
Most school beverage deals aren’t very profitable for schools, raising an average of only $18 per student per year, according to estimates from a multistate analysis of districts’ contracts with beverage companies.
Education
Report Roundup
Math and Science
While political and business leaders are clamoring for more mathematics and science in school, only a bit over half the people responding to a poll share that view.
Education
Report Roundup
Teacher Spending
Teachers spend an average of $475 a year of their own money on classroom materials and supplies, according to a market-research firm.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Research Report: Charter Schools
A federal report highlights charter schools that are using effective methods to close the achievement gaps between low-income, minority, and special education students and their peers.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Higher State Standards—No Chance to Meet Them
I enjoyed reading your article "Researchers Ask Whether NCLB’s Goals for Proficiency Are Realistic" (Nov. 29, 2006). But I was discouraged, as I am so often, by the sheer lack of knowledge on the part of those who create and enact educational policy.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Success for All Criticism Seen as ‘Unprofessional’
Stanley Pogrow should be ashamed of himself. In his slander against Robert E. Slavin and Success for All ("A 10 Percent Solution?," Letters, Nov. 29, 2006), he has acted in a most unprofessional manner.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Seeing Empowerment in Weighted-Funding Plan
Bruce Baker and Michael A. Rebell may have some worthwhile criticisms of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s publication “Fund the Child” ("Robbing Peter to Pay Paul," Commentary, Nov. 29, 2006). But based on three decades of work in an urban district, I’d say the report has much to recommend it.
Education
Report Roundup
Teacher Quality
Teacher quality is the most important school factor influencing student achievement, but there is no specific factor that can predict whether a teacher will be successful, according to a report from the Center for American Progress.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Federal Report Tracks Incidents of Bullying
Middle school principals were more likely than elementary or high school administrators to report that student-bullying incidents occur on their campuses at least once a week, according to a federal study.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
‘Reading First-gate’
Marc Dean Millot, a former social scientist at the RAND Corp, argues that lessons must be learned from the federal investigation that uncovered abuses in the Reading First program.