July 9, 2014
Education Week, Vol. 33, Issue 36
Teaching Profession
National Teachers' Union Ushers in New Leadership
Lily Eskelsen García was chosen as the next president of the National Education Association.
School & District Management
Rocky Road Foreseen for Newark Schools Overhaul
Despite opposition from a new mayor and the community, the state-appointed schools chief for the New Jersey district has agreed to stick around for three more years.
School & District Management
School Turnarounds Proving Heavy Lift for Waiver States
Federal reports show that many states with leeway from many NCLB mandates were cited for failing to follow through with plans to turn around their poorest-performing schools.
Standards
States That Drop Common Core Under Gun in Replacing Them
Though they usually have years to overhaul academic standards, states backing out of the common core will have to craft new ones under a tight time frame.
Special Education
Fewer States Hit Mark Under New Spec. Ed. Framework
Federal officials are looking more at how well students with disabilities are taught, and less on strict compliance with voluminous regulations.
Ed-Tech Policy
Major Conference Tackles Schools' Digital Needs
More than 16,000 educators, ed-tech company officials, researchers, and others swarmed the Georgia World Congress Center for the annual International Society for Technology in Education conference.
Teaching Profession
Global Survey of Teachers Finds High Job Satisfication but Cracks Under Surface
OECD study finds that U.S. teachers spend significantly more hours per week working than their international peers and have have fewer opportunities for cross-classroom collaboration.
Law & Courts
In High Court Decision, Public-Employee Unions Avoid Damaging Blow
The U.S. Supreme Court stopped short of reversing a key precedent allowing public-worker unions to charge "agency fees" to nonmembers.
Law & Courts
The Supreme Court's 2013-2014 Term: Notable Cases for Educators
The justices dealt with several cases of interest to educators, including disputes involving race in college admissions, prayers at government meetings, and more.
School & District Management
Major Revisions Underway for School Leaders' Standards
Model standards used nationwide to prepare, guide, and evaluate school leaders—including principals, their supervisors, and superintendents—are being revised to reflect the jobs' changing roles.
School & District Management
Chicago Mishandled School Closures, Says State Panel
Report is the third post mortem on last year's closures, which shut down 49 schools and affected nearly 12,000 students.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
Risk-Taking Principals Already Answering Call for Change
To the Editor:
Paul Reville's Commentary "Stop the Tinkering: We Need a New K-12 Engine" is a hardheaded reminder of what makes many of us so uneasy—children spend about 20 percent of their lives in school, and the inequities in the lives of many of these children are enormous.
Paul Reville's Commentary "Stop the Tinkering: We Need a New K-12 Engine" is a hardheaded reminder of what makes many of us so uneasy—children spend about 20 percent of their lives in school, and the inequities in the lives of many of these children are enormous.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
Commentary Offers 'Living Case Study' on Evaluation
To the Editor:
Nicholas A. Fischer's Commentary on how his school district has improved student learning through a homegrown evaluation system has several worthwhile lessons for other districts.
Nicholas A. Fischer's Commentary on how his school district has improved student learning through a homegrown evaluation system has several worthwhile lessons for other districts.
English-Language Learners
Letter to the Editor
Bilingual Programs Facilitate Students' Acquisition of English
To the Editor:
A recent Learning the Language blog post on California bilingual education is right: Things have changed dramatically since the dismantling of bilingual education in California caused by the passage of Proposition 227.
A recent Learning the Language blog post on California bilingual education is right: Things have changed dramatically since the dismantling of bilingual education in California caused by the passage of Proposition 227.
Accountability
Letter to the Editor
Poor Preparation of Teachers Leads to Poor Student Performance
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to the article "White House Revives Rules Putting Teacher Preparation on Hot Seat". The National Council on Teacher Quality's 2013 State Teacher Policy Yearbook showed that Louisiana had improved in every area related to teacher evaluation. However, its grade decreased in the area of delivering well-prepared teachers. While Louisiana may be second in the country for teacher evaluations, it is third from last in student performance based on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress scores.
This letter is in response to the article "White House Revives Rules Putting Teacher Preparation on Hot Seat". The National Council on Teacher Quality's 2013 State Teacher Policy Yearbook showed that Louisiana had improved in every area related to teacher evaluation. However, its grade decreased in the area of delivering well-prepared teachers. While Louisiana may be second in the country for teacher evaluations, it is third from last in student performance based on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress scores.
School & District Management
Plan to Improve American Indian Schools Faces Skepticism
President Obama's pledge to improve schools for 50,000 Native American students comes after years of scathing reports and complaints about the Bureau of Indian Education.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Washington State's High Court Threatens Penalties Over Funding
Although Washington state's top court is demanding that elected officials present a new plan to boost K-12 spending—and set an early September court date to view it—legislators and Gov. Jay Inslee say there's virtually no chance they'll convene to craft a fresh strategy before then.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Cyberbullying Law Violates Free Speech, Court Rules
New York's highest court ruled last week that a "local law" adopted to criminalize cyberbullying violates the First Amendment because it is overly broad in what it restricts.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Okla. Court Asked to Toss Repeal of Common Core
A petition from members of the Oklahoma board of education, as well as parents and teachers, is asking the state's highest court to throw out a new law that repeals the Common Core State Standards. The petition, filed June 25, claims that the law gives the state legislature too much power over the standards-adoption process.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
ACT to Feature Indicators For Readiness, Complexity
High school students who take the ACT college-entrance exam will receive more information on their performance, including their career readiness and understanding of complex texts, starting next spring.
Science
News in Brief
Wyoming Churches Support Common Science Standards
A group of churches in Wyoming has endorsed the Next Generation Science Standards, including the stance that evolution should be taught as scientific fact.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
KIPP Wins Broad Prize For Charter Schools
The KIPP school network is the winner of this year's third annual Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools, besting two other well-known charter networks, Achievement First and Idea Public Schools. The winner was announced last week.
Data
News in Brief
Ohio Educators Notified Licenses Are in Danger
About 60 educators from the Columbus schools have been notified that their licenses to work in Ohio schools are in danger because of their role in the district's data scandal.
Accountability
News in Brief
State Takeover Law Struck Down in Virginia
A Virginia law that established a statewide board to take over and run unaccredited and consistently low-performing schools has been ruled to violate the state constitution.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Study: How Districts Make Principals Successful
A new report identifies the kinds of conditions that are necessary to enable all principals in a school district to be effective—rather than just the few who defy the odds.
Assessment
Report Roundup
Peer Tutors
Working with other students in high-risk courses like first-year science and mathematics classes, be it in peer study sessions or supplemental instruction from older students, is associated with higher average grades, lower failure and grade-retention rates, lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates, according to a new analysis in the Review of Educational Research.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Teacher Evaluations
After New York City encouraged principals to be more deliberative in awarding tenure, ineffective teachers were more likely to leave schools or the profession voluntarily—to the benefit of students, according to a recently released working paper.