October 18, 2006
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 08
Assessment
Study: Nations With ‘Happy’ Students Post Poorer Scores
A nation full of students who enjoy mathematics and feel confident in the subject is not necessarily a nation that scores high on international math tests, a report being released this week concludes.
Teaching Profession
With Declining Membership Rolls, New Orleans Union Clings to Life
The United Teachers of New Orleans, once a powerful force in the city, is today a shadow of its former self.
School & District Management
AFT Shells Out Millions to Lure Members Back Into Fold
Total membership in the American Federation of Teachers dropped in the 2005-06 fiscal year, even as the union spent nearly 10 percent more than it did the previous year, including generous outlays to bring back teachers.
School Climate & Safety
The Long Arm of the Law
In Mobile County, Ala., the district attorney believes fighting juvenile crime starts where children are: in the schools.
School & District Management
Effects of Schools’ Push for Healthy Eating Unclear
While school nutritionists are working hard to introduce healthy choices to schools, and districts are implementing federally mandated wellness programs, the strongest research into the effects of lower-fat food and fitness for students in schools shows that the efforts often do little to make overweight children less fat.
School & District Management
States Get Tough on Programs to Prepare Principals
Impatient to prepare better-qualified school leaders, a growing number of states are giving their universities an ultimatum: Redesign your preservice programs, or get out of the business of training school administrators.
Federal
Scandals Aside, Pages Get an Education Like No Other
The scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley has brought renewed attention to the page program, with some observers calling for a temporary halt and others for the abolition of the program amid questions over how well officials in Congress have supervised it.
Assessment
Raising Bar in N.J. Includes Closing Test Loophole
New Jersey leaders have launched a campaign to build support for boosting high school rigor, but some are worried that the effort could produce a higher dropout rate as the state phases out an alternative exam used by nearly 15 percent of its students.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
Chat Wrap-Up: Stress and Student Achievement
On Oct. 4, readers posed questions to Denise Clark Pope, a Stanford University lecturer who has written about the impact of pressure on students, and Herbert J. Walberg, an emeritus research professor of education and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, on the amount of stress students are facing in school.
Teaching
Opinion
We Are All Shamu
Freelance writer and editor Brenda Power shares what she thinks schools can learn from exotic-animal trainers.
Federal
Opinion
Research and Effectiveness
Robert E. Slavin, the chairman of the Success for All Foundation, looks to a "10 percent solution" to make evidence-based reform a reality.
School Climate & Safety
‘Be Alert’ to Keep Schools Safe, Panelists Say
Educators, law-enforcement officers, crisis counselors, and students—some from communities that have experienced deadly school shootings—shared their hard-earned lessons and ideas about how to prevent further incidents at a school safety summit last week called by President Bush.
Student Well-Being
Veterans Come to Aid of Novice Teachers in Alaska’s ‘Bush’
In Toksook Bay, Alaska, help for new teachers arrives by phone, Internet, and e-mail—and occasionally, by snowmobile.
Law & Courts
Finance Issues Stir Emotions in N.Y. Case
When New York City father Robert Jackson started his crusade to secure more money for his children’s public schools, he had a daughter in 1st grade and another in intermediate school.
School & District Management
Schools Chief Races Highlight Policy Divides
Six states have elections for schools chiefs on the November ballot, and voters’ decisions in at least a couple of those states could significantly alter education policy over the next four years.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
The Laptop Revolution Has No Clothes
Larry Cuban, education historian and professor of education emeritus at Stanford University, writes that the concept of one-to-one laptop programs as a panacea for improving test scores is shortsighted.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Schools Play Key Role in Moderating Behaviors
In his Commentary on the overprescription of medications for children considered to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Julian Weissglass makes a number of good points on the need to respect children for who they are ("Why Are We Drugging Our Children?," Sept. 27, 2006).
Education
Letter to the Editor
School Safety Should Top Federal Agencies’ Agenda
The past few weeks have again shown us why school safety should remain a priority for the U.S. departments of Justice and Education both ("School Shootings in Policy Spotlight," Oct. 11, 2006).
Education
Letter to the Editor
Teachers Need a Voice in Debate on Pay Incentives
I am heartened that policy leaders and school administrators increasingly are embracing financial incentives as a means to attract more-qualified teachers to the schools and students who need them most ("Teacher-Pay Incentives Popular But Unproven," Sept. 27, 2006).
Ed-Tech Policy
Online News Aims at Young Readers
Two online student newspapers debuted recently, one a national publication written by and for students in elementary through high school, and the other an international newspaper that is focused on providing hard news in a simple, student-friendly format.
Education
A National Roundup
Los Angeles Board Picks Superintendent; Mayor ‘Disappointed’
The Los Angeles school board last week said it had selected a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral to become the district’s next superintendent.
Education
Report Roundup
High School Sports
High school football players in the United States had the highest rate of injury during the 2005-06 school year, compared with athletes in other sports, according to a study.
Ed-Tech Policy
Report Roundup
Digital Disparities
A little over half—54 percent—of immigrant youths in United States have computers at home, compared with 75 percent of native-born children, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
School Choice & Charters
Report Roundup
Research Report: Charter Schools
Michigan’s charter schools are drawing a sizable percentage of students from private schools, a study concludes.
Education
Report Roundup
School Improvement
Schools in even the neediest communities can boost their chances of academic improvement by developing five essential supports, a report says.
Education
Report Roundup
Value of Free Play Stressed in Report
Free and unstructured playtime is necessary to help children reach social, emotional, and cognitive milestones, as well as help them lower their levels of stress, a report concludes.
School & District Management
On the Road for Better Ideas
Seven cities in 2½ weeks. Sound like a touring schedule for a rock band? Nope. Try a high school reform task force from Pittsburgh.
Education
A Washington Roundup
Defense Dept. Awards Grant for Mich. K-16 Arabic Program
The Department of Defense has awarded a grant to Michigan State University to work with the Dearborn, Mich., public schools to institute a K-16 Arabic program.
Law & Courts
A Washington Roundup
Justices Decline to Review Employee-Retaliation Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined last week to hear a dispute between the Averill Park, N.Y., school district and its former athletic director, who alleged that the district had infringed his right to free speech.
