March 27, 2013
Education Week, Vol. 32, Issue 26
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Steubenville Athletes Guilty in Rape Case
Two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players were found guilty last week of raping a 16-year-old girl.
School & District Management
Opinion
Consider the Value Proposition for Teachers
Schools must look beyond salary to the benefits and working conditions they offer when looking to hire and retain teachers, Regis Anne Shields and Karen Hawley Miles write.
Education Funding
'Personalized Learning' Varies for Race to Top Districts
The 16 districts that won Race to the Top grants are taking vastly different approaches as they aim to make over the classroom experience.
Early Childhood
Pre-K on Federal Lawmakers' Radar
Early-childhood education has attracted a flurry of legislation in Congress even as the Obama administration pushes its own proposals.
Teaching
Teachers Break Down Math Standards for At-Risk Pupils
Some math teachers are refining practices and getting creative to help struggling students make the shift to the common core.
Teaching
Opinion
The Math Standards and Moving Beyond the Worksheet
The common-core math standards offer an opportunity for teachers to move away from a step-by-step instructional model, writes Alison Crowley.
Federal
Partnership Blends Science and English Proficiency
A California school district and a museum are working together to teach English-learners the language in tandem with science.
Reading & Literacy
Letter to the Editor
Critical Thinking is the Key to Historical Reading
To the Editor:
Teaching adolescents to "read to learn" continues to be a challenge for content-area teachers. The lessons presented in the Education Week Teacher partnership video produced by Teaching Channel "Reading Like a Historian" (edweek.org/tm, March 4, 2013) were well planned and executed, but the video should have been titled "Comprehension of Historical Topics." There was no evidence of critical thinking, and the material presented did not represent how historians read, either.
Teaching adolescents to "read to learn" continues to be a challenge for content-area teachers. The lessons presented in the Education Week Teacher partnership video produced by Teaching Channel "Reading Like a Historian" (edweek.org/tm, March 4, 2013) were well planned and executed, but the video should have been titled "Comprehension of Historical Topics." There was no evidence of critical thinking, and the material presented did not represent how historians read, either.
Assessment
Letter to the Editor
Children's Sleep Health Affects Learning
To the Editor:
The Building a Grad Nation report revealed last month that, for the first time, the nation's high school graduation rate is on track to reach 90 percent by 2020 ("Some States on Pace to Hit 90 Percent High School Grad. Rate by 2020," College Bound, edweek.org, Feb. 25, 2013). This proves that progress is possible when educators, government, and the private sector combine their efforts for a common good.
The Building a Grad Nation report revealed last month that, for the first time, the nation's high school graduation rate is on track to reach 90 percent by 2020 ("Some States on Pace to Hit 90 Percent High School Grad. Rate by 2020," College Bound, edweek.org, Feb. 25, 2013). This proves that progress is possible when educators, government, and the private sector combine their efforts for a common good.
Education Funding
Letter to the Editor
Education and Business Should Remain Separate
To the Editor:
The Commentary "Schools for Other People's Children" by Alan C. Jones (Jan. 23, 2013) was an excellent exposure of the problems inherent in the No Child Left Behind Act. It should be published in every newspaper and educational journal in America.
The Commentary "Schools for Other People's Children" by Alan C. Jones (Jan. 23, 2013) was an excellent exposure of the problems inherent in the No Child Left Behind Act. It should be published in every newspaper and educational journal in America.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
Tie Between Education, Military Is Tenuous
To the Editor:
I am puzzled, not to say perplexed, by the inclusion of the Commentary by Paul Kimmelman, "Learning From Military Leadership" (Feb. 20, 2013). I cannot begin to imagine what his intention was in writing it, nor yours in publishing it.
I am puzzled, not to say perplexed, by the inclusion of the Commentary by Paul Kimmelman, "Learning From Military Leadership" (Feb. 20, 2013). I cannot begin to imagine what his intention was in writing it, nor yours in publishing it.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
Principal Performance Unrelated to Test Scores
To the Editor:
In regard to the article "Principal Appraisals Get a Remake" (March 6, 2013), the Institute for Educational Leadership joins a steady chorus of researchers who assert that evaluating principals on the basis of student test scores is psychometrically indefensible, despite attempts at developing value-added formulas. A working paper published by the University of California, Berkeley's education school proposes a tripartite approach to principal evaluation, including:
In regard to the article "Principal Appraisals Get a Remake" (March 6, 2013), the Institute for Educational Leadership joins a steady chorus of researchers who assert that evaluating principals on the basis of student test scores is psychometrically indefensible, despite attempts at developing value-added formulas. A working paper published by the University of California, Berkeley's education school proposes a tripartite approach to principal evaluation, including:
Teacher Preparation
Teacher-Prep Programs Zero In on Effective 'Practice'
The Match Teacher Residency is one of a small number of programs that train aspiring teachers for the classroom through practice.
Families & the Community
Same-Sex-Marriage Cases Hold Implications for Schools
Legal briefs in a pair of cases to be argued at the Supreme Court raise such issues as schools' treatment of same-sex parents and gay students and the possible impact on curriculum.
School & District Management
Opinion
Keys to Radical Classroom Change
Turnarounds generally happen through a series of disciplined improvements, not because of one silver bullet, Amanda Gardner writes.
Teaching
Opinion
Which Path for the Common Core?
Educators should use the common-core standards as a springboard to deeper learning in schools, Ken Kay and Bob Lenz write.
Federal
'Sequester' Cuts Still in Place Amid Budget Wrangling
Congress has yet to take action that would ward off education cuts for the 2013-14 school year.
Families & the Community
More States Consider 'Parent Trigger' Laws
Advocates push options for parents to demand turnaround of low-performing schools, while critics say the laws could undermine public education.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
Lance Armstrong and Teaching Students the Meaning of Integrity
Students seeing their heroes choosing achievement over morality is a disturbing trend that must be reversed, writes Joseph W. Gauld.
School & District Management
Experts Make a Case for Later School Start Times
Getting adequate sleep is critical to brain development, memory function, and cognitive skills in children and teenagers, experts and advocates tell a symposium in Maryland. Pushing back school start times helps ensure that they get enough rest.
College & Workforce Readiness
Algebra, Geometry Classes Vary in Rigor, Says Study
Fewer than one in five students who took an Algebra 1 "honors" class were actually exposed to rigorous mathematics, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress's latest high school transcript study.