April 11, 2007
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 32
Teaching Profession
Border Teachers Trained For High-Need Subjects
Almost a quarter of El Paso’s population is foreign-born, and more than half the residents speak Spanish as their language of preference.
Education
Letter to the Editor
High Court’s Drug Case Is About More Than Schools
Students now are on the front lines of the war on drugs.
Education Funding
Donors Underwriting National-Board Fees
Two prominent corporations are channeling support to teachers seeking national certification as a way to advance some of the donors’ charitable causes.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Questions for Congress on Reading Plan
Members of Congress need to take a magnifying glass to your recent article "Out-of-Favor Reading Plan Rated Highly."
Reading & Literacy
Consortium Forming to Keep The Concord Review in Business
The founder is turning to private schools and other donors to keep the student-written journal afloat after its primary sponsor pulled its funding.
Education
Correction
Correction
An article in the April 4, 2007, issue of Education Week on dark themes in adolescent literature misspelled the name of Purdue University Associate Professor Janet Alsup.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Other Reasons to Oppose Abstinence-Only Program
The problem I have with the government’s abstinence-only program for sex education, aside from its apparent coercive nature, is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ two required curriculum points relating to sex “outside marriage,” to quote the department.
Federal
A National Roundup
Long Beach District Again Picked as Finalist For Urban School Prize
The Long Beach, Calif., school district, which won a prestigious prize in 2003 for an urban district making gains in student achievement, is again a finalist for the award.
Student Well-Being & Movement
A National Roundup
Foundation to Spend $500 Million to Fight Childhood Obesity
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced last week that it will commit at least $500 million over the next five years to fight childhood obesity.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Grade Inflation: A ‘Fact of Life’ and Hard to Change
No question about it: Perry A. Zirkel is right. Grade inflation is a fact of life in competitive high schools.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Not Performance Pay Alone
Teacher incentives must be matched by systemwide change, write Theodore Hershberg and Barbara Lea-Kruger.
Education
People in the News
Cynthia T. Rogan
Cynthia T. Rogan has been named the senior vice president for marketing at Wireless Generation, a New York City-based company that develops mobile technologies for use in schools.
Education
People in the News
Marsha Wells
Marsha Wells will become the superintendent of the 8,800-student Portage school district near Kalamazoo, Mich., on July 1.
Education
People in the News
Thomas James
Thomas James has been named the provost at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City.
States
States Seen Renewing Focus on Education Of Gifted
Florida and Wisconsin are among the states considering changes to the system they use to identify gifted children.
School & District Management
Leaders in L.A. District at Odds Over School Reforms
As Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa awaits a court ruling on his bid to control the city's schools, the direction of the district is unclear.
Federal
Governors Enter Fray Over NCLB
The National Governors Association has released recommendations for NCLB renewal that aim to preserve the federal role in holding states accountable for student learning.
School Climate & Safety
Long After Katrina, Children Show Symptoms of Psychological Distress
Eleven percent of children surveyed said that a family member or a friend had died as a result of the disaster.
Teaching Profession
Scholars Suggest Policies to Bolster Teacher Quality
Approaches highlighted in a new volume by the Brookings Institution range from pay incentives to better training and conditions.
Education
Report Roundup
Service Learning
High school students who take part in community service, both voluntarily and to fulfill a school requirement, are more likely to vote and volunteer as adults, a report concludes.
Education
Report Roundup
Research Report: Educational Technology
Forty-two states have established technology standards for students, and twenty-seven have enacted minimum standards for teachers' technology use in the classroom, a report finds.
Education
Report Roundup
Early-Childhood Education
Governments and parents have spent billions of dollars on educational materials aimed at newborns and toddlers, but a new report suggests those efforts might be misguided.
Education
Report Roundup
Adult Literacy Linked to Parent Involvement
Parents with the highest literacy levels are more likely than other parents to be involved in their children's education, according to a new report.
Education
Report Roundup
College Concerns
Sixty-five percent of parents and students surveyed feel high levels of stress about college applications, up 6 percentage points from last year, a report finds.
Education
Report Roundup
Workforce Readiness
More than half of parents and teachers believe that schools are not adequately preparing students for today’s jobs, concludes a survey by Project Tomorrow.