October 12, 2005
Education Week, Vol. 25, Issue 07
Law & Courts
Fla. District Pressed on Black Achievement
African-American students in Pinellas County, Fla., could get the opportunity in court to show that they receive inferior educations and face discriminatory practices in classrooms.
Special Education
Minority Overrepresentation in Special Ed. Targeted
A new provision of federal law taking effect this school year allows, and in some cases requires, school districts to focus some of their federal special education money on reducing the enrollment of minority students in such programs.
Teaching
Scholars Eye ‘Signature’ Method of Teacher Training
Anyone who has ever seen movies like “The Paper Chase”and “Legally Blonde” can picture what goes on in a law school classroom. The routine, repeated in law schools throughout the country, calls for an instructor to stand at the center of a semicircle of desks and pepper individual students with questions based on assigned readings of legal cases or statutes. There are no such trademark practices, however, for preparing teachers.
School Choice & Charters
Catholic Schools Reopening After Katrina
Lots of hugs and stories were shared last week in the Archdiocese of New Orleans as students returned to class in 37 Roman Catholic schools that opened for the first time since Hurricane Katrina blasted the region six weeks ago.
Reading & Literacy
GAO to Probe Federal Plan for Reading
Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate education committee have joined the debate over the implementation of Reading First, with a call for an investigation into the federal program by the watchdog arm of Congress.
Teaching Profession
Heeding the Call
The Clemson University-based Call Me MISTER program is recruiting young black men to become elementary school teachers.
Education
Opinion
‘Brain Research’— A Call for Skepticism
Teachers are bombarded with claims about “brain-based learning” these days. However, in reality, all of this happens at a considerable remove from actual research in neuropsychology or the chemistry of the brain, writes Thomas Newkirk.
School & District Management
Bennett Quits K12 Inc. Under Fire
Former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett abruptly resigned last week from the education company K12 Inc. after his racially charged remarks on abortion and crime sparked a firestorm of criticism.
Professional Development
Opinion
Lion Taming Without a Chair
Thorunn R. McCoy recounts how she grew into the role of an English teacher.
Federal
Opinion
Education, Not Litigation
Author Douglas B. Reeves offers four keys to a mediated solution to the No Child Left Behind debate.
Education Funding
Group’s ‘65 Percent Solution’ Gains Traction, GOP Friends
An effort to require school districts to funnel 65 percent of their budgets directly into classrooms is gaining traction in several states.
Student Well-Being
Conn. District in Food Fight
Parent volunteers in Hartford, Conn., are scrambling to make sure that students get snacks in after-school programs as a labor dispute threatens to halt their distribution.
Federal
Network Aims to Bolster Business Support for Schools
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week brought policymakers, corporate leaders, and education professionals together here as part of an aggressive new venture to increase the business community’s involvement in education.
Law & Courts
Legislation Tightens Fiscal Oversight of California Charters
A bill giving county-level education officials the power to investigate suspected fiscal malfeasance by charter school operators is among several charter-related measures that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has signed into law.
Special Education
Letter to the Editor
Annual Progress and Special Education
Do “AYP Rules Miss Many in Spec. Ed.,” as your Sept. 21, 2005, article’s headline suggests?
Education
Letter to the Editor
Free-Enterprise Answers in the Hurricane’s Wake?
Regarding “ ‘Normal’ a Long Way Off for Schools in Louisiana”: The worst possible result in Louisiana, especially New Orleans, is a return to normal.
Special Education
Letter to the Editor
Ambiguity Leaves Its Mark on Special Education Law
Every time I read something about the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“Best Evidence,”), I become nauseated.
Curriculum
Letter to the Editor
Reading Experts Question Efficacy of DIBELS Test
Your front-page story “National Clout of DIBELS Test Draws Scrutiny” gives the impression that the argument is whether the right reading test to give young children is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills or some other skills assessment, such as the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening tests.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Hill’s New Orleans Essay Rests on Flawed Premise
Paul T. Hill (“Re-Creating Public Education in New Orleans,”) made good sense up until the very last paragraph of his essay on the future of the New Orleans school district.
Education
Table: Full Disclosure
Advocates say a new California law will help reveal the differences in what districts spend on teachers in each of their schools.
Education
Opinion
New in Print: Places Where the Past Is Lost and the Future Unclaimed
An excerpt from Jonathon Kozol's latest book, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America .
Education
Opinion
New in Print
Reviews of the latest books dealing with education, including a collection on the college admission process.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Miss. Schools Get Policy Breaks
Mississippi legislators, in a special session that ended Oct. 5, offered a helping hand to hurricane-damaged districts by approving exemptions from the state’s school accountability law and new spending flexibility for districts and local governments in storm-ravaged areas.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Michigan Schools to Start Later
Michigan public schools will begin classes after Labor Day, under a measure signed into law by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm last month. Tourism and business leaders pushed for the change, saying that late-August vacations could boost the state’s ailing economy by $132 million annually.
Education Funding
A State Capitals Roundup
Study for Ark. High Court Faults State on School Aid
Arkansas has not made education its “first priority” as required by a 2002 state supreme court decision in a school finance lawsuit, a special investigation concludes.
Law & Courts
A State Capitals Roundup
Vermont School Aid Case Returned to Lower Court
A lawsuit challenging Vermont’s school aid system has won a reprieve. The suit, filed by a group of students and taxpayers in three southern Vermont towns before lawmakers overhauled the state’s school finance system in 2003, was dismissed by a state court last month.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
New Jersey Takes Steps to Hasten School Fixes
In an attempt to detect and solve problems earlier, New Jersey has revised the system by which it monitors school districts.
