May 1, 2019
Education Week, Vol. 38, Issue 31
Special Education
Parent of Spec. Ed. Student Spotlights Powerful Tool for Advocacy
One mother’s complaint to the state of Oklahoma regarding her child prompts a state order affecting students with disabilities throughout Tulsa.
Classroom Technology
Even 'Digital Natives' May Need Lessons on Online Political Discourse
New research suggests that students who’ve learned about media literacy and participatory politics in school are more likely to take part in political activity online.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Q&A: How to Bolster Cybersecurity in Your Schools
Melissa Tebbenkamp, the director of instructional technology for the Raytown Quality Schools near Kansas City, says her district's biggest cybersecurity risk is "ourselves." She outlines what it takes to teach educators how to help protect schools and districts against cyberattacks.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Rural Broadband Gets Big New Aid
Rural communities with low internet connection could soon see upgrades thanks to a new Department of Agriculture grant program.
Federal
Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Has K-12 Record as Senator, VP
Joe Biden has more history with K-12 education policy than any of the other current presidential candidates; but it's not all good history.
Law & Courts
Census Case Arguments Show High Court Divide
Dispute over a proposed citizenship question on the 2020 census gets a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday April 23, with many school groups watching closely for the impact it could have on funding.
Federal
How Does Title I Aid Stack Up State to State?
The annual list of how much states get in the way of federal Title I funding is released by the Congressional Research Service.
Mathematics
Students Build Tiny Houses to Bring Geometry Lessons to Life
At Battle High School in Columbia, Mo., students in geometry class have swapped their compasses and protractors for hammers and hard hats. And they're doing it for a good cause.
Equity & Diversity
Wealthier Enclaves Breaking Away From School Districts
Over two years, 27 communities have split from their home districts, and the new districts are mostly wealthier, whiter, and more property-rich than the ones left behind.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
Testing Consortium Responds: 'We Couldn't Agree More'
To the Editor:
The recent Commentary "Did the Common Core Kill Classroom Assessment?" (April 15, 2019) brought attention to the need to support teachers in the classroom. Doing so is part of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium's daily work, and we appreciate the author bringing attention to this issue.
The recent Commentary "Did the Common Core Kill Classroom Assessment?" (April 15, 2019) brought attention to the need to support teachers in the classroom. Doing so is part of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium's daily work, and we appreciate the author bringing attention to this issue.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Child Wellness
Programs that screen adolescents for drug and alcohol abuse problems and refer them to treatment supports can have long-term benefits, finds a new study in the journal Pediatrics.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Migrant Students
An estimated 98,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year, but those graduates remain "at risk of deportation and will face severely limited opportunities to pursue further work and education," finds a new report from the Migration Policy Institute.
Special Education
Report Roundup
Research Report: Special Education
Differences in how states identify and evaluate students with disabilities may lead to big state differences in the percentage of children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, finds a new report by the federal Government Accountability Office.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Early-Childhood Education
The World Health Organization issued guidelines for children under 5, including its first recommendations on how much time children should be spending in front of a digital screen.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Detained Youths Get Top Teacher
A social studies teacher who works with students in juvenile detention at the Virgie Binford Education Center in Richmond, Va., has won the 2019 National Teacher of the Year award.
School & District Management
News in Brief
L.A. School Board to Study Lowering Voting Age to 16 in District Elections
The Los Angeles school board voted unanimously last week to approve a resolution directing the superintendent to report on the feasibility—including costs—of a 2020 ballot measure that would lower the voting age to 16 in school district elections.
College & Workforce Readiness
News in Brief
New Initiative Launches to Connect Youths With Adults to Find Jobs
A major new national campaign has launched that aims to help young people make connections with adults to advise and connect them with ideas and opportunities.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Ky. Attorney General Warns Officials to Rescind Teacher Sickout Subpoenas
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear last week threatened to take the state's labor secretary to court for refusing to withdraw subpoenas sent to districts demanding information about teacher sickouts during the 2019 legislative session.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Bill to Establish 'Do-Not-Hire' Registry of School Workers Advances in Texas
The Texas Senate last week advanced to the House a bill that would require the state to create a registry of people who may not be hired by public or private schools.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Cases Involving Sexual Orientation
The U.S. Supreme Court last week said it would decide whether the main federal job-discrimination law protects workers based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Student Arrests Rise in Conn. Schools With Law-Enforcement Officers
An analysis of state data shows that the presence of police officers in Connecticut schools leads to a higher average of student arrests, but the impact on student achievement is negligible.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Bullying and Criminal Acts at School Found to Continue Downward Trend
Amid public concerns about school safety fueled by high-profile school shootings, new federal data show reports of student fights, bullying, and other forms of victimization have continued a decades-long decline.
Federal
News in Brief
Head Start Proposes Backing Off Mandate to Extend Operating Hours
Head Start no longer wants to require center-based programs to offer 1,020 hours per school year—the most contentious part of new performance standards issued in 2016 but never put into effect.
Teaching Profession
Districts Swamped by Cost of Hard-Fought Teacher Contracts
Amid the teacher strikes and activism that roiled the nation last fall, school districts in California, Colorado, and Washington signed labor contracts they now say they cannot afford.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Opinion
Education Reform as We Know It Is Over. What Have We Learned?
Before charting a new course in education policy, we should figure out what the reform movement got right—and wrong, writes Van Schoales.
Teaching Profession
Retired Teachers Struggle to Make Ends Meet
Many teachers went into the profession for the promise of a comfortable pension. But payouts haven’t always kept up with cost of living, and some retirees are barely scraping by.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
What Really Keeps Girls of Color Out of STEM
Science, technology, engineering, and math diplomas open a lot of doors, writes Emilio Pack. But are they open to everyone?
College & Workforce Readiness
From Our Research Center
Many Online Charter Schools Fail to Graduate Even Half of Their Students on Time
In some states no virtual charter school had a graduation rate over 50 percent in the past four years.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
'I've Had a Lot of Survivor's Guilt': Columbine High's Former Principal on Healing His Community
Frank DeAngelis talks about the steps he took to heal students and staff in the wake of the school shooting.