April 27, 2011
Education Week, Vol. 30, Issue 29
Ed-Tech Policy
Letter to the Editor
Directing Funds to Data; Starving Schools in the Process
To the Editor:
What is wrong with the pictures you prominently displayed in your article “Pushed to Improve—Race to Top, or Not” (March 30, 2011)?
What is wrong with the pictures you prominently displayed in your article “Pushed to Improve—Race to Top, or Not” (March 30, 2011)?
Education
Letter to the Editor
Network Empowers School Leaders
To the Editor:
Jal D. Mehta, Louis M. Gomez, and Anthony S. Bryk make some persuasive comments about the attributes of social learning in their recent essay in your “Futures of School Reform” Commentary series (“Schooling as a Knowledge Profession,” March 30, 2011). They focus on networks of diverse expertise and their ability to spur innovation aimed at improvement where there must be a shared commitment to disciplined inquiry. Their four essential questions informing all inquires are very important.
Jal D. Mehta, Louis M. Gomez, and Anthony S. Bryk make some persuasive comments about the attributes of social learning in their recent essay in your “Futures of School Reform” Commentary series (“Schooling as a Knowledge Profession,” March 30, 2011). They focus on networks of diverse expertise and their ability to spur innovation aimed at improvement where there must be a shared commitment to disciplined inquiry. Their four essential questions informing all inquires are very important.
Federal
D.C. Vouchers Resurrected in Budget Compromise
The budget agreement approved by federal lawmakers revived a controversial tuition-voucher program in the nation's capital.
Student Well-Being
Letter to the Editor
Fed-Up Food-Services Manager Speaks Out About Parents
To the Editor:
I have worked in food services for 27 years, and I’ve seen a lot of kids. I have seen kids come to school on Monday weak from hunger. I fed them so they could go to class because their parents were drinking and using drugs all weekend. I’ve had kids cry because they were hungry. I manage a junior high school cafeteria and, every day, I see kids sent to school with a candy bar or chips (“School-Meals Makeover Stirs the Pot,” April 6, 2011).
I have worked in food services for 27 years, and I’ve seen a lot of kids. I have seen kids come to school on Monday weak from hunger. I fed them so they could go to class because their parents were drinking and using drugs all weekend. I’ve had kids cry because they were hungry. I manage a junior high school cafeteria and, every day, I see kids sent to school with a candy bar or chips (“School-Meals Makeover Stirs the Pot,” April 6, 2011).
International
District Seeks to Sell Online Courses
Hoping to make money to help relieve property taxes, the Auburn, Maine, school department will try to develop online high school courses for foreign students.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
'I Am Only a Teacher ...': A Poem for Teacher Critics
To the Editor:
I don’t have a star on the illustrious Hollywood Walk of Fame; I don’t have a reality show so that everyone knows my name./ I don’t have a prestigious award like an Emmy, Oscar, or Grammy. I don’t have notoriety for doing something slimy./ I am only a teacher who genuinely cares about children and looks out for their welfare. I am only a teacher who believes in public education and that it needs its fair share./ I am only a teacher, whose profession is being undermined, and that’s a crying shame. I am only a teacher, who has decided it’s time to stand up to bullying and displaced blame.
I don’t have a star on the illustrious Hollywood Walk of Fame; I don’t have a reality show so that everyone knows my name./ I don’t have a prestigious award like an Emmy, Oscar, or Grammy. I don’t have notoriety for doing something slimy./ I am only a teacher who genuinely cares about children and looks out for their welfare. I am only a teacher who believes in public education and that it needs its fair share./ I am only a teacher, whose profession is being undermined, and that’s a crying shame. I am only a teacher, who has decided it’s time to stand up to bullying and displaced blame.
School & District Management
Studies Find 'Desirable Difficulties' Help Students Learn
Researchers are finding that students sometimes remember more when the learning seems more difficult.
Education Funding
Teacher-Evaluation Logistics Challenge States
As the Race to the Top deadline looms, unlikely players are taking the lead in designing the new evaluation systems.
Classroom Technology
Some W.Va. Schools Closing the Book on Laptops
A decade-old initiative to bring more laptops into the hands of students across the state has fizzled out in some of the schools where it began.
School & District Management
Young Adults Grade High Schools Mediocre, Colleges High
Young adults say high schools are failing to give students a solid footing for the working world or strong guidance toward college, a new poll shows.
Accountability
School Accrediting Agency's Reach Questioned
Critics suggest AdvancED may be getting involved in political matters that don't have a direct effect on education.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
How to Redefine Teacher Tenure
Once a protection against political reprisals, teacher tenure is now the scapegoat for a struggling economy, but it needn't be, writes Gary M. Chesley.
Professional Development
Opinion
A System of Learners
Susanna Loeb, Dan Goldhaber, and Michael Goldstein suggest how to inspire excellence in the teaching profession, in the fourth essay of the Futures of School Reform series.
Teaching Profession
A Bargain of a Bill in Illinois?
A measure working its way through the Illinois Statehouse would make big changes to teachers' job protections and collective bargaining rights. But unlike in some other states, unions actually helped shape the plan, rather than protest it in the streets.
Federal
School Improvement Grant Efforts Face Hurdles
States and districts grapple with turning around schools and making big changes in a tight time frame.
Equity & Diversity
Calif. May Mandate Inclusion of Gay History in Curricula
Pending legislation would require lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans to be "accurately portrayed" in social studies classes.
Federal
Duncan Issues Far More NCLB Waivers Than Predecessors
The education secretary granted 315 waivers in 2009, a nine-fold increase over his predecessor's waivers the year before.
School Climate & Safety
Critics Target 'School Shooter' Video Game
A new online game in which the player stalks and shoots fellow students and teachers in school settings is drawing fire from educators.
School & District Management
Studies Find 'Easy' Material May Not Be Easy to Learn
Researchers are finding that students sometimes remember more when the learning seems more difficult.
Law & Courts
Lawsuit Calls for Open District-Union Contract Negotiations
For decades, annual contract talks between the two sides have been held behind closed doors—standard practice in most Colorado school districts. But this year, a conservative group and others began publicly calling for the talks to be open.
Education Funding
Common Assessments a Test for Schools' Technology
As the two big groups of states craft common-assessment systems, experts warn that the smallest details could undermine their work.
School Climate & Safety
Critics Target 'School Shooter'
A new video game in which the player stalks and shoots fellow students and teachers in school settings is drawing fire from critics.