Feb. 26, 2014
Education Week, Vol. 33, Issue 22
Assessment
News in Brief
School Improvement Grant Reanalysis Shows Smaller Gains Than First Reported
A revamped analysis of the Obama administration's controversial and costly School Improvement Grant program continues to show that billions of federal dollars produced mixed results.
Science
Computer Science: Not Just an Elective Anymore
The subject is getting a fresh look from state and local policymakers, with many pushing measures to expand access to computing courses.
Early Childhood
States Found to Lag in Linking Data on Early-Childhood Programs
Only Pennsylvania fully links up data between five major early-childhood programs and its own K-12 data system, a new survey finds.
School & District Management
State Lawmakers Aim to Rejigger Local School Board Elections
Legislators in some states say that putting school board elections on the same calendar as other local races could boost often-anemic turnout.
Federal
New E-Rate Funding Will Take Time to Reach Schools
The pressure on schools to upgrade their technology is growing very fast right now, but they will not see the new E-rate dollars until 2015.
Teacher Preparation
Charter Network Taps Alumni to Grow Teacher Pipeline
The charter-management group in Chicago is taking a novel approach to building a corps of highly qualified, and racially diverse, teacher-candidates by recruiting its alumni.
Teacher Preparation
ETS Wades Into Market for Teacher-Performance Exams
The test-maker says the goal of its new offering is to serve not only as an assessment, but also as a learning tool for prospective educators.
Early Childhood
Private Pre-K Feels Heat From Public Providers
Competition from free, public preschool programs can siphon off clients from private early-education providers and potentially limit options in some communities.
College & Workforce Readiness
Education Fuels Growth of Urban Entrepreneurs, Study Suggests
Entrepreneurial growth in U.S. cities is generated more by high school diplomas and college degrees than by venture capital investments or government funding, says new research.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Give Students Time to Play
Students need outdoor recess and movement throughout the day in order to stay focused and perform better academically, writes Debbie Rhea.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Planning for Life After High School
"Individualized learning plans" empower students to plot a postsecondary course, whether for college or careers, write V. Scott Solberg and Curtis Richards.
Federal
Opinion
California: A K-12 Education Outlier
Even though it's a state under Democratic control, California's education policies do not fall in line with those of the Obama administration, writes Charles Taylor Kerchner.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Transition
Gregory Thornton has been named the chief executive officer of the 80,000-student Baltimore city school district.
Federal
Report Roundup
NCLB Policies Live On Despite Waivers
The No Child Left Behind Act waivers granted by the U.S. Department of Education were intended in part to give states flexibility from some of the policies that were viewed as problematic in the federal law.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Scholarship Incentives
The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship, a program designed to expand college access in Kalamazoo, Mich., is having a positive impact on student behavior and completion of high school courses, new research finds.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
College-Entrance Testing
A new study finds "no significant differences" between the college grades and completion rates of students who submit ACT or SAT scores with their college applications and those who do not. A more reliable predictor of academic success, the research concludes, is students' high school grades.
Assessment
Report Roundup
Learning Language
A research synthesis based on decades of evidence from the fields of medicine, psychology, education, and linguistics highlights common myths about children who grow up speaking more than one language.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Assessment Costs
A new analysis seeks to pinpoint how much can be saved by "machine scoring" test essay questions, and concludes that the costs can be as low as 20 percent of the price of human grading, depending on the volume of students being tested and other factors.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Mass. Becomes Last State to Fingerprint Employees
School districts in Massachusetts have started fingerprinting teachers, administrators, bus drivers, and other employees for national background checks.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Extra School Funds Eaten Up by State Retirement System
When lawmakers in Utah decided to boost per-pupil spending last year by 2 percent, many state residents cheered, envisioning that cash raining on teachers and classrooms.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Albuquerque District Audit Finds Apparent Violations
Internal audits at a third of Albuquerque, N.M., public schools have turned up numerous problems, including instances involving thousands of dollars in questionable expenditures and improperly recorded receipts.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
Ala. House OKs Bill Offering Dual-Enrollment Tax Credits
Lawmakers in the Alabama House unanimously approved a bill last week that would provide $5 million in tax credits for individuals or businesses that contribute to dual-enrollment programs.
Assessment
News in Brief
Groups Issue Guidelines to Prepare for Online Tests
A group of ed-tech organizations has issued an "assessment ready" checklist, case studies, and responses to frequently asked questions to help districts with the successful administration of new online exams aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Federal Court Questions Uniforms with Mottos
A federal appeals court has cast legal doubt on a Nevada district's uniform policy, holding that requiring students to wear shirts with the motto "Tomorrow's Leaders" is a form of compelled speech that implicates the First Amendment.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Character-Building Beats Out Economy-Building as Goal
Americans rank "building character" above bolstering the economy when asked to name the most important long-term goals of K-12 education, according to a new poll.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
NEA Calls for Correction on Course of Common Core
In a letter to members of the National Education Association last week, President Dennis Van Roekel argues that in too many places, states and districts have "completely botched" implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
Federal
News in Brief
Common Arts Standards Open for Final Review
The public has until the end of this month to contribute to a final review of the pre-K-12 arts education standards—covering dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts—proposed by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
N.J., Disability-Rights Advocates Settle Long-Term Lawsuit
New Jersey has agreed to take several steps to raise the number of students with disabilities served in inclusive classroom settings, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit disability-rights advocates filed.