November 5, 2014
Education Week, Vol. 34, Issue 11
School & District Management
Obituary
Obituary
Thomas M. Menino, the popular mayor of Boston who had authority over the city's schools throughout his 20-year tenure, died Oct. 30 of cancer. He was 71.
Equity & Diversity
News in Brief
Tribes Get Grants to Assume More Control Over Schools
The Obama administration says a series of small grants it has awarded to Native American tribes will help spur improvements to the network of federally funded schools that serve tens of thousands of American Indian students.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
Los Angeles to Review All Seniors' Records
The Los Angeles school district is reviewing every senior's transcript in the wake of computer problems that have messed up class schedules for some or produced faulty transcripts needed for college.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Mo. Districts Seek Delay of Grand Jury Announcement
Seven school districts have asked the St. Louis County prosecutor to wait until classes aren't in session to make any announcement about whether a grand jury decided charges were warranted against a police officer in the Ferguson, Mo., shooting case.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
School Lab Fires Show Lack of Training, Agency Finds
Science teachers need more safety training before running dazzling chemical experiments that can result in dangerous flash fires, according to recommendations issued last week by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
New Mexico Court Tosses Confession of Alcohol Use
The New Mexico Supreme Court has thrown out a high school student's admission to his principal that he was drinking alcohol at school. The boy had received no warning of his right to remain silent, and the statement was used against him in a juvenile-delinquency proceeding.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Lengthy Teachers' Strike in Waukegan, Ill., Nears Resolution
After nearly a month, a teachers' strike in the Waukegan, Ill., school district appeared to have come to a close late last week.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Girl Barred Over Ebola Fears; Father Sues Conn. District
A Connecticut father sued his 3rd grade daughter's district last week, claiming it did not have legal justification to bar her from school because of officials' concerns she may have been exposed to Ebola.
Education Funding
News in Brief
New Rules Limit Debt for College Graduates
After years of debate over how to regulate career-training programs, the U.S. Department of Education last week issued "gainful employment" rules that will limit how much debt students can take on if colleges want to receive federal funding.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Ed. Dept. Seeks Suggestions on What to Review Next
The U.S. Department of Education wants to know what program should be next for an intensive evaluation.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Research Report: Education Technology
The New Media Consortium finds similar and evolving European and American views about how teachers should be presenting and delivering content in the digital age, across the 28 member nations of the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Autism
Two different groups of genetic mutations may contribute to autism spectrum disorders for high-IQ boys and low-IQ boys and all girls with autism, finds a new study in the journal Nature.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
College and Career Readiness
The education field understands early childhood as a time of critical brain and social development, but educators and researchers should view the ages of 18 to 26—the transition to adulthood—as a critical developmental window in its own right, according to a new report from the National Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Social and Emotional Learning
Character skills that improve performance can mean more to success than academic skills, concludes a new report from the Brookings Institution.
Teaching Profession
Report Roundup
Common Standards
Public school teachers are divided on the merits of the Common Core State Standards, with 44 percent having a negative opinion of the shared academic goals and another 40 percent of teachers favoring it, according to a new Gallup poll.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
School Improvement
Not really, according to a research brief on the $3 billion School Improvement Grants program just released by the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education's statistical arm.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Study: Most Common-Core Materials Developed by Teachers, Districts
A report released last week by the Center on Education Policy provides one of the first early glimpses of how districts are solving one of the most difficult problems of putting the Common Core State Standards into practice. Overwhelmingly, they're creating their curricula locally.
Equity & Diversity
War on Poverty College Programs Still Serving 'Lucky Few'
The college-bridge programs created 50 years ago under President Lyndon B. Johnson's signature program were never designed—or funded—to serve all the students who need them.
Education Funding
Federal K-12 Policy Evolves as Staff Turns Over
Some Obama administration officials behind key education initiatives have moved on, and those now in place bring their own approaches and perspectives.
College & Workforce Readiness
Digital Tools Predict College Admissions, Link Employers
The popularity of social-media sites and the increasing ability of software to analyze information give members of the class of 2015 more online tools than ever to help chart their next step.
College & Workforce Readiness
Ohio Group Wins $1 Million for Spurring College Attainment
An Ohio higher education coalition is the first to win a new prize for metropolitan areas that boost their numbers of college graduates.
Standards
Tensions Surface as States Queue Up for Early-Ed. Grants
Though most states are seeking some of the $250 million in federal aid for expanded preschool, there's been partisan tension in a handful that didn't apply.
School & District Management
Charter School Authorizers Grapple With Closures
As the charter sector matures, it faces increasing pressure to close schools that fail to perform—a situation that could become more common.
Curriculum
Text-Review Group Shares First Look at Its Process
EdReports.org is training teachers to evaluate how well textbooks align with the common-core standards. The nonprofit group will start publishing Consumer Reports-style reviews early next year.
Accountability
Opinion
Best Practices for Evaluating Teacher Ed. Programs
Accurate data are crucial for determining whether teacher-candidates are prepared for the classroom, write Mary Brabeck and Frank C. Worrell.
Teaching
Opinion
Brain Science in the Classroom
Teachers can take cues from brain research to boost student learning, writes Benedict Carey of The New York Times.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
Declining Respect, Low Pay Explain Teacher-Prep Drop
To the Editor:
In response to the article "Steep Drops Seen in Teacher-Prep Enrollment Numbers," how very sad, distressing, and alarming regarding the future.
In response to the article "Steep Drops Seen in Teacher-Prep Enrollment Numbers," how very sad, distressing, and alarming regarding the future.
College & Workforce Readiness
Letter to the Editor
Schools Must Ignite and Inspire Students for STEM Engagement
To the Editor:
The United States has long been a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, but we are not on track to maintain this historical pre-eminence. The reason is our country's workforce-skills gap.
The United States has long been a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, but we are not on track to maintain this historical pre-eminence. The reason is our country's workforce-skills gap.