February 28, 2018
Education Week, Vol. 37, Issue 22
Federal
Several Ed. Dept. Offices Target of Reorganization
The moves underway by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration and aim to "do more with less," an official said.
School Climate & Safety
Fla. Students Use Social Media to Call for Safer Schools, Then Face Backlash From Internet Trolls
Teenagers turned to Twitter, Snapchat, and other online tools to document the horror of a school shooting and advocate for change, but then faced a disinformation campaign.
School Climate & Safety
Shooting Survivors Face Long Road to Recovery
Vigils, protests, and marches are helping the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School channel their grief, experts say, but they’re just a start toward recovery.
Federal
Opinion
What Should Betsy DeVos Prioritize?
Margaret Spellings, Marilyn Anderson Rhames, and others discuss how the controversial secretary of education should set her agenda as she looks ahead.
Federal
Budget Plan Would Slash Ed. Dept. Spending, Boost School Choice
President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 proposal would eliminate a few big-ticket K-12 programs and streamline others, while increasing money for public and private school choice.
Federal
Opinion
Impact Aid Is a Lifeline for Military-Connected Kids
Betsy DeVos has signaled her interest in offering Education Savings Accounts to military families. A superintendent whose district serves military-connected kids thinks that’s shortsighted.
Every Student Succeeds Act
From Our Research Center
Reporting School-by-School Spending Data: Inside One State's Approach
The state has long collected the funding numbers now required under ESSA, but is still working on how to make that data accessible and transparent to the public.
Every Student Succeeds Act
States Confront New Mandate on School-Spending Transparency
School-by-school funding data have to be made available to the public under the Every Student Succeeds Act, but doing so can be a daunting task given districts' sometimes-antiquated finance systems.
School Climate & Safety
A Florida City Forever Changed
The scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the surrounding area after the shootings shifted from chaos and panic to grief, anger, and calls for swift and aggressive action to prevent other school attacks.
School Climate & Safety
Report Roundup
Media Literacy
Some interventions designed to teach students to be more savvy about consuming media show promise—but the fragmenting media landscape is a far bigger problem than students alone can address, no matter how well-educated they are, argues a new report.
Assessment
Report Roundup
International Benchmarks
A new report by the World Bank puts the results of much-publicized international tests–which many poor nations do not take part in–on a comparable scale as regional exams commonly used by developing countries.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
College Readiness
The College Board, a nonprofit that oversees Advanced Placement exams, found in its annual report that 1 in 4 students taking the exams are from low-income backgrounds.
Reading & Literacy
Report Roundup
Research Report: Reading
Active conversations with adults do more to boost young children's language development than simply being exposed to more words, according to a new neuroscience study in the journal Psychological Science.
School Climate & Safety
Lost Sense of School as a Safe Place
After the Parkland school shooting, survivors and members of the community have dealt with wrenching questions about whether the attack could have been prevented.
Education
Letter to the Editor
'Screentime' Value Depends on Use
To The Editor:
In his Feb. 7, 2018, Commentary, "Schooling Students on Screentime," Matt Miles raised interesting questions about how much screentime is healthy for children. Miles wrote that the tie between technology initiatives and student achievement is "specious" and concluded with the claim that there is "no real evidence" of education technology's effectiveness. This is taking the argument against technology's potential harms too far.
In his Feb. 7, 2018, Commentary, "Schooling Students on Screentime," Matt Miles raised interesting questions about how much screentime is healthy for children. Miles wrote that the tie between technology initiatives and student achievement is "specious" and concluded with the claim that there is "no real evidence" of education technology's effectiveness. This is taking the argument against technology's potential harms too far.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
W.Va. Teachers Go on Strike Across State
A teacher strike shut down public schools across West Virginia last week, as educators called for higher wages and better benefits.
Standards & Accountability
News in Brief
Years After Standards Adoption, Detroit Discovers Curricula Are Misaligned
In one of the lowest-performing districts in the nation, students have been using outdated textbooks for nearly a decade.
School & District Management
News in Brief
AASA Selects Illinois Educator as Superintendent of the Year
David Schuler, the superintendent of Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, Ill., has been named 2018 National Superintendent of the Year.
School Choice & Charters
News in Brief
Cincinnati District Gets Kicked Out of Charter-Authorization Role
Ohio's push to improve charter school quality has booted the Cincinnati district out of the charter-authorization business.
School & District Management
News in Brief
D.C. Schools Chief Resigns Amid School Transfer Scandal
District of Columbia schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson resigned last week after little more than a year on the job.
Equity & Diversity
News in Brief
Appeals Court Rules Mostly White City Cannot Form Segregated District
A federal appeals court has ruled that the mostly white city of Gardendale, Ala., cannot detach its students from a racially mixed county school system by forming its own district.
Education Funding
News in Brief
More Students in the Florida Keys Need Federal School Meals Since Irma
School officials in the Florida Keys say more students are taking free and reduced-price meals since Hurricane Irma.
Federal
News in Brief
Trump Team May Make Head Start, CHIP a Hurdle for Green-Card Applicants
The Trump administration is considering making it more difficult for immigrant families to become lawful permanent residents of the United States if they use social services such as Head Start, the Children's Health Insurance Program, or food stamps.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Thousands of Chicago Students Improperly Won Seats in Schools
Finding fault with a notoriously frustrating school selection process, the Chicago district's watchdog said that thousands of students were improperly enrolled in hundreds of elementary schools last year because of loopholes, confusion over policies, or intentional disregard of rules.
School & District Management
News in Brief
KIPP Co-Founder Fired Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Michael Feinberg, a co-founder of KIPP, the largest, and arguably most successful, charter school network in the country, has been fired over allegations of sexual misconduct with a child, KIPP officials wrote in a letter last week.
Special Education
Missouri Tackles Challenge of Dyslexia Screening, Services
New state mandates start next school year aimed at identifying and supporting students with dyslexia. The 2016 law also led to development of training for teachers.
School Climate & Safety
Fla. District Faces Barrage of Legal Issues in Wake of School Massacre
From liability and student privacy to the complexities of a deadly crime scene, legal officials in Broward County, Fla., will be consumed for months, if not years, with the aftermath of the fatal shooting.
School Climate & Safety
'Let the Youth Lead': Student Activists Nationwide Demand Change After Parkland Shooting
The upwelling of youth activism stands in stark contrast to that seen after previous school shootings, advocates and academics say, and could prove a powerful force in the gun control debate.
College & Workforce Readiness
In Age of High Tech, Old-School Cambridge Curriculum Makes Unlikely Gains
A rigorous curriculum program imported from the United Kingdom is challenging AP and IB as it becomes increasingly popular in U.S. schools.