Web Watch
Teacher’s look at education news from around the Web. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teaching profession.
Education
Officer Assaults Special-Needs Student
This spring, at the Academy for Learning in Dolton, Illinois, a school police officer allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old special-needs student for not adhering to the school's dress code, according to CNN.
Education
Curriculum Vs. Test Scores
Some parents at a unique Massachusetts elementary school are showing by their actions that the type of curriculum their children are exposed to is more important to them than near-term test scores, according to a story in the Boston Globe.
Education
The Handwriting's on the Wall
Reports of the death of handwriting have been greatly exaggerated (or at least slightly overstated), according to The Washington Post. This week, tucked away in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., two dozen school teachers received training on how to teach handwriting to students—most of whom are more familiar with a keyboard than a pencil. Instruction came by way of a curriculum created by occupational therapist Jan Olsen.
Teaching Profession
Just in Time for Banned Books Week
An Ohio school district has decided to implement a review system to evaluate all books on teachers' reading lists.
Education
You Lie?
Last week, in the nation's capital, 38-year-old Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that there would be a reduction in force of the city's 3,800 teachers due to "unanticipated" cuts to the budget by the City Council, according to The Washington Post. A controversial figure locally since her appointment in the spring of 2007 by Mayor Adrian Fenty to head up Washington, D.C.'s troubled school system, Rhee has became something of a media darling outside the Beltway—appearing on the cover of Time magazine in the now-famous picture of her in a classroom, holding a broom; in the pages of The Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, Harper's, The New York Times; and on the public radio and air waves.
Assessment
Board Rooms
A California elementary school with high percentages of low income and minority students has seen dramatic test score gains as a result of an instructional program that combines intensive white board use with choral student responses, according to the Contra Costa Times.
Education
Teacher Gone Wild
A New Hampshire teacher has been disciplined and is being monitored after issuing a (shall we say?) peculiar essay prompt to her 12th grade class, according to local news provider WMUR.
Education
Friends are Born, Not Made
This week, CNN reported that the population of Facebook—now at 300 million members—has neared that of the United States. This is good news for anyone trying to connect via the Internet, except perhaps for teachers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The ArgusLeader.com reports that, as of June, the district has a new policy that prevents students and staff who are not related from social-networking with or “friending” each other, unless the site is a professional one.
Education
On Classroom Management
Editor’s note: Conquering classroom management can be tough. Whether it’s figuring out how not to make the most of leftover classroom time, dealing with behavior problems, or staying ahead of classroom chaos, classroom management can raise the hackles of even a seasoned educator. A best-of selection of classroom management tips written by the members of the Teacher Leaders Network and staff reporters at Education Week is now available. A package of articles on topics ranging from classroom organization to conflict resolution to the latest management tools are available for only $4.95.
Education
A Dissent on '21st Century Skills'
In an op-ed piece published in the Boston Globe, education professor and historian Diane Ravitch argues that the current movement to emphasize “21st Century Skills” in K-12 schools is a potentially harmful rehash of earlier, now discredited pedagogical efforts to teach life skills in the place of content knowledge.
Education
A Long Story
An 11-year-old student in Alabama came up with an elaborate kidnapping hoax last week in an effort to hide his bad report card from his parents, according to CNN.
Education
Evaluation Concerns
The U.S. Department of Education’s push to get states to link teacher evaluations to student test-score performance is ill-advised and unfair to educators, former Los Angeles teacher Walt Gardner writes in an opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Times.
Education
‘Fuzzy’ Math, Concrete Gains?
Recent gains by U.S. students on an international-comparison test show that the much-maligned “reform math” is in fact working, a middle school math teacher writes in an opinion piece published in The Seattle Times.
Education
Ramping up New-Teacher Support
A group of 50 new teachers in Massachussetts are getting some extra support in their first year in the classroom, according to the the Boston Globe.