June 15, 2011
Education Week, Vol. 30, Issue 35
Education Funding
K-12 Budgets Hurting Amid Slack Recovery
Four years after the national economy first started to tank, the state-level recovery remains sluggish, and K-12 education is still taking a beating.
Families & the Community
News in Brief
PTA Gets New President
Former Tennessee PTA President Betsy Landers, who helped devise the states Parent Involvement Act, takes over as president of the National PTA this week.
Classroom Technology
Summer Educators 'Mix Up' Learning with Technology
Summer programs are harnessing technology to try to improve students' academic proficiency.
Education Funding
California Data System Threatened by State Budget Squeeze
Gov. Brown's plan to end funding follows years of developing work on the longitudinal data system for students and teachers.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Association Adds Caution to Article on Spec. Ed. Costs
To the Editor:
I write in response to the article titled “Mass. For-Profit Helps Schools Trim Special Education Costs” (Education Week, May 25, 2011). The American Speech-Language Hearing Association, or ASHA, is the professional association for 145,000 individuals who are speech-language pathologists; audiologists; and speech, language, and hearing scientists. More than 53,000 of our members, including Peter Bittel, the chief executive officer of Futures Education, which was featured in your article, work in our nation’s schools. ASHA members are acutely aware of shrinking school budgets and the costs of providing special education.
I write in response to the article titled “Mass. For-Profit Helps Schools Trim Special Education Costs” (Education Week, May 25, 2011). The American Speech-Language Hearing Association, or ASHA, is the professional association for 145,000 individuals who are speech-language pathologists; audiologists; and speech, language, and hearing scientists. More than 53,000 of our members, including Peter Bittel, the chief executive officer of Futures Education, which was featured in your article, work in our nation’s schools. ASHA members are acutely aware of shrinking school budgets and the costs of providing special education.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Opinion
My Nine 'Truths' of Data Analysis
Data analysis has an important instructional role in the classroom, explains Ronald S. Thomas.
School & District Management
Study Finds Few Learning Gains from Gifted Services
Researchers find that students nearest the eligibility cut-offs for gifted services don't get much of a learning boost from gifted classes.
Curriculum
Math Educators See the Right Angles for Digital Tools
The math world is bursting with technologies that visualize concepts, adapt to students' strengths and weaknesses, and align with state academic standards.
Curriculum
Art and Music Learning Emphasize Interactivity, Real-World Relevance
Digital tools can be key to engaging more students in art and music and preparing others for careers in those fields.
Teaching Profession
Teachers Hold the Real Keys to Whiteboard Effectiveness
Experts say educator skill is the key determinant of the impact that interactive whiteboards have on student learning.
Ed-Tech Policy
Film Students Power Video-Production Business
Students at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia are the employees in a school-based production company that provides video services.
IT Infrastructure & Management
'Safe' Social Networking Tailored for K-12 Schools
In the age of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, some schools instead turn to social networks designed specifically for education.
Curriculum
Digitized Historical Documents Give Students Direct Access to the Past
Students can now review thousands of perspectives from key historical figures faster and more easily than ever before.
Reading & Literacy
Language Arts Educators Balance Text-Only Tactics With Multimedia Skills
Teaching students to read and write with depth and understanding should be a high priority no matter what approach is being used, experts say.
Science
Technology Evolves to Offer a Clearer View of Science
Schools are incorporating computer simulations and 3-D modeling to help students visualize and understand complex concepts.
Curriculum
Quality Content in Demand as Multimedia Use Expands
Digital curricula repositories are helping to fill the growing need for more and better multimedia content.
Federal
As NCLB Renewal Stalls, Duncan Vows Flexibility
The U.S. Secretary of Education will offer states relief from some NCLB mandates if they hew to his reform priorities.
College & Workforce Readiness
'Gainful Employment' Rules Leave Many Disappointed
Career-college programs can lose access to federal student aid if too many of their students fail to find "gainful employment."
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Using a New Model to Create Pathways to Higher Learning
An innovative education model involving public-private partnerships can reach students whose academic future is in question, write Stanley S. Litow and Robert B. Schwartz.
Families & the Community
Dispute Exposes Tensions Over Charters' Role in Cities
Civil rights groups, parents, teachers, and school leaders form opposing camps in placement of NYC charter schools.
School Climate & Safety
Exiting Official Made Anti-Bullying a Top Priority
Kevin Jennings moves on after two years as head of the Education Department's office of safe and drug-free schools.
School & District Management
Judge Blocks Philadelphia Teacher Layoffs
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers argues that the district is violating the contract by exempting young teachers working in turnaround schools from layoffs.