February 26, 2020
Education Week, Vol. 39, Issue 23
Equity & Diversity
Hidden Segregation Within Schools Is Tracked in New Study
When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.
School & District Management
6 Big Barriers to Restructuring School Schedules
Before districts can overhaul a traditional school schedule, they're likely to face a wide variety of obstacles.
School & District Management
Starting High School Later Shows 'Big Impact'
To make better, evidence-based use of time, a district in Illinois changed high school start times from 7:20 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
School & District Management
Time and Schools: What the Research Says
Education Week presents several studies with best practices for making better use of time that are actionable and effective for K-12.
Student Achievement
Smart Scheduling Puts Students' Needs First
A principal went back to the drawing board on his school's schedule after hearing author Daniel Pink talk about what children really need.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
Students Struggle With Time Management. Schools Can Help
Schools need to help students develop a healthier relationship with time, writes researcher Brad Aeon.
School & District Management
There Are Smart Ways to Use Time to Aid Learning. Why Do So Many Schools Ignore Them?
While a growing body of research offers best practices for using time wisely in schools, a range of barriers often get in the way.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Doubling Recess Time to Put Play Back in the School Day
The Virginia Beach City schools decided to make a big change, doubling the amount of recess the district offered.
School & District Management
Opinion
Here's How to Make Better Use of the School Day
More than a dozen contributors weigh in on how to improve time-management practices in order to give students and staff a big boost.
States
Push for Teacher Pay Maintains a Foothold in States
More than a dozen governors have proposed raising teacher pay so far this year, an Education Week survey finds, and teacher advocates vow to keep the heat on.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Pushback Over SEL Bubbles Up in Idaho
When Idaho education leaders pitched social-emotional learning training for teachers, some state lawmakers compared the plan to dystopian behavior control. Some walked out of the meeting.
Education Funding
Trump Budget Would Slash, Recast Ed. Funding Stream
The president’s plan to shrink U.S. Department of Education funding by nearly 8 percent in part by consolidating 29 major programs into a single, $19.4 billion block grant is managing to kick up plenty of dust.
Education
Letter to the Editor
D.C. Auditor Clarifies Statement
To the Editor:
I am sorry the EdWeek article on public education gains in Washington, D.C., missed the point I made in describing reforms as “more evolutionary than revolutionary” (“D.C. Gains Momentum in Boosting Opportunities for Students,” Quality Counts special report, Jan. 21. 2020). The article recounted gains made in the District’s public schools and indicated that progress is attributable to the 2007 governance decision that turned control of schools over to the city’s mayor. I was interviewed as a former councilmember who served on and chaired the District Council’s education committee.
I am sorry the EdWeek article on public education gains in Washington, D.C., missed the point I made in describing reforms as “more evolutionary than revolutionary” (“D.C. Gains Momentum in Boosting Opportunities for Students,” Quality Counts special report, Jan. 21. 2020). The article recounted gains made in the District’s public schools and indicated that progress is attributable to the 2007 governance decision that turned control of schools over to the city’s mayor. I was interviewed as a former councilmember who served on and chaired the District Council’s education committee.
Early Childhood
Letter to the Editor
A Debate Over Phonics Instruction
To the Editor:
In her opinion essay, Heidi Anne E. Mesmer proclaims that explicit instruction in phonics is not enough: Children must be taught print concepts, phonemic awareness, morphology, and fluency (“Phonics Is Just One Part of a Whole,” Feb. 12, 2020).
In her opinion essay, Heidi Anne E. Mesmer proclaims that explicit instruction in phonics is not enough: Children must be taught print concepts, phonemic awareness, morphology, and fluency (“Phonics Is Just One Part of a Whole,” Feb. 12, 2020).
Equity & Diversity
Briefly Stated
Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed
A collection of news stories you may have missed.
Every Student Succeeds Act
What the Research Says
Some States' Goals for English-Learners 'Purely Symbolic'
English-language-learner education policies nationwide remain "disjointed and inaccessible to local education officials, teachers, and education advocates" more than four years after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, finds a new Migration Policy Institute report.
Recruitment & Retention
What the Research Says
Eliminating High-Stakes Testing May Not Lessen Most Teacher Turnover
For many teachers, high-stakes testing is a major source of frustration—but they're not necessarily quitting over it.
Education
Correction
Correction
A story about the challenges in dissolving a school district in the Feb. 12, 2020, issue of Education Week incorrectly described the history of consolidation efforts in Wisconsin. In the 1940s and 1950s, the state merged some 5,000 districts, many of them tiny, into 500 within six years.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Like College Athletes, These High School Players Get an Assist on Academics
An unusual program in Cincinnati provides academic coaches to help high school players meet eligibility requirements to stay in the game.
School & District Management
Do You Have to 'Love' Every Student? And What If You Don't?
Assuring a positive student-teacher relationship is easier said than done. Here’s what veteran educators advise about how to make that relationship work, and what to do when things fall apart.
School & District Management
6 Districts Invested in Principals and Saw Dramatic Gains. Dozens More Will Try to Do the Same
Scores rose dramatically in school districts that focused on improving principals. Now other districts hope to replicate that success.
School Climate & Safety
Trump Admin. Unveils School Safety 'Clearinghouse.' Here's What You Need to Know
A new "one-stop shop" website on school safety has gone live, a joint effort of four federal agencies that is drawing strong backing from the families whose loved ones were killed in the 2018 shooting rampage in at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.