January 20, 2010
Education Week, Vol. 29, Issue 18
Science
Obama Unveils Projects to Bolster STEM Teaching
The public-private partnerships will roughly double spending under the "Educate to Innovate" initiative on science and math education.
Teaching Profession
AFT Chief Promises Due-Process Reform
Randi Weingarten says plan to streamline due-process procedures must include better ways to evaluate teachers and help them improve.
States
State of the States
State of the States 2010: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, Vermont
Education Week's coverage of the 2010 governors' speeches.
Education
News in Brief
Alabama Board Backs Charters
Alabama's board of education unanimously supported the creation of charter schools in the state.
Education
News in Brief
Governor's Teacher-Evaluation Plan Clears Tenn. Education Committee
The proposal to require up to half of teacher evaluations and tenure decisions to be based on student test scores cleared the Senate Education Committee.
Education
News in Brief
Nebraska Governor Unveils Changes To Requirements for Graduation
Nebraska high school students soon will be required to take more courses in core subjects in order to graduate.
Education
News in Brief
Audit Finds Los Angeles District Paid Out Too Much in Salaries
Auditors say the Los Angeles District paid out $200 million more in salaries last year than it officially budgeted.
Education
News in Brief
NGA to Help 6 States Reduce Dropout Rates
The National Governors Association has selected six states in which it will work to help curb high school dropout rates.
Federal
Duncan Carves Deep Mark on Policy in First Year
One year after his confirmation, the education secretary’s record offers a template for the agency’s future policy direction.
Education
News in Brief
Class Action Accuses L.A. County of Failing to Provide Lessons at Jail
An ACLU lawsuit contends that the Challenger Memorial Youth Center deprives youths of an appropriate education.
Education
News in Brief
Grants Eyed to Recruit Skilled Principals
A bipartisan bill seeks to create a grant program that would help recruit, support, and prepare principals to work in high-need schools.
Education
News in Brief
Educators Move to Help Quake Victims
Schoolchildren and educators with Haitian ties organize aid drives.
Education
Report Roundup
School Libraries
A majority of schools received less funding for information resources last year than in 2008, according to the 2009 survey of school libraries.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Teen Violence
About one in four U.S. teenage girls is involved in some sort of violent behavior at school or at work, according to a federal report.
Education
Report Roundup
Research Report: Charter Schools
Two dozen states lack the kind of "charter-friendly" policies they need to earn top points on their Race to the Top applications, according to a new review.
Education
Report Roundup
College Readiness
Current federal education standards may not accurately measure how well-prepared high school graduates are to attend college or join the workforce, contends a new report.
Education
Report Roundup
Achievement Gaps
A new report by the Education Trust illustrates how some methods of measuring states' progress in closing achievement gaps can be misleading.
Education
Report Roundup
Head Start Pupils' Gains Found to Fade
Participation in Head Start has positive effects on children’s learning while they are in the program, but most of that advantage disappears by the end of 1st grade, a federal study says.
Education
Correction
Corrections
A story on a Chicago school turnaround effort in the Jan. 6, 2010, issue of Education Week misidentified the head of the Strategic Learning Institute’s shared-leadership team. Her name is Charlotte Blackman.
Education
New N.J. Governor Picks Schools Chief
New Jersey’s incoming governor has named school choice proponent Bret Schundler as his pick for education commissioner.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teachers' Letters to Obama
The response to his call for letters to send to the White House, writes Anthony Cody, shows a teaching profession hungry for policymaking impact.
Education
Letter to the Editor
History Should Guide Core-Standards Effort
Must this go on indefinitely? Whose opinion should prevail? Is it not possible to get away from personal opinion to an agreed-upon consensus of opinion? May we not replace the constantly conflicting subjective standards with definitely defined objective standards?”
School & District Management
Opinion
Ready Remedies for the School Leadership 'Crisis'
W. Norton Grubb and Lynda Tredway say there are concrete steps that states, universities, and districts can take to develop and improve school leaders.
Education
Letter to the Editor
'Flawed Assumptions' and Skilled, Creative Teachers
To the Editor:
Thomas Hatch’s Commentary "Four Flawed Assumptions of School Reform" (Dec. 9, 2009), which challenged commonly held beliefs that policymakers often use to help guide schools, was well done. His recommendations for improving our education system, however, failed to include the importance of highly skilled and motivated teachers, an essential element in the opinion of many education researchers and this writer’s own experience.
Thomas Hatch’s Commentary "Four Flawed Assumptions of School Reform" (Dec. 9, 2009), which challenged commonly held beliefs that policymakers often use to help guide schools, was well done. His recommendations for improving our education system, however, failed to include the importance of highly skilled and motivated teachers, an essential element in the opinion of many education researchers and this writer’s own experience.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Charters and the Contract Conversation
Diana Lam, a former urban school superintendent, writes of "far different" contract negotiations at the charter school she now heads.
Student Achievement
Opinion
Why We Need to Study the Tutors
Federal programs mandate supplemental educational services for students in need, writes Megan Beckett, but whether or not the providers are effective is unknown.