June 13, 2007
Education Week, Vol. 26, Issue 41
Education
Correction
Correction
A story in this issue’s In Perspective section, which was sent to the printer early, gives the incorrect year for data on teacher turnover compiled by researcher Richard M. Ingersoll. The data are from 2000-01.
Education
Honors & Award
Honors & Awards
Charter Schools of the Year
The Washington-based Center for Education Reform recently named 53 schools as its National Charter Schools of the Year. The schools were evaluated on the criteria of achievement, planning and execution, satisfaction, and policies and programs. The winners are:
The Washington-based Center for Education Reform recently named 53 schools as its National Charter Schools of the Year. The schools were evaluated on the criteria of achievement, planning and execution, satisfaction, and policies and programs. The winners are:
Education
Events
July 2007
8-10—Teachers: 2007 Partners’ Symposium, sponsored by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, for educators, at the Sofitel Hotel Philadelphia. Contact: Emily Silberstein, (202) 429-2570; Web site: www.nctaf.org.
8-10—Teachers: 2007 Partners’ Symposium, sponsored by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, for educators, at the Sofitel Hotel Philadelphia. Contact: Emily Silberstein, (202) 429-2570; Web site: www.nctaf.org.
Assessment
Florida Scoring Glitch Sparks Broad Debate
A flaw in a statewide test has widened into a full-scale debate with national implications: Is too much riding on one fallible assessment?
Assessment
Texas Plans New Test-Security Measures as Cheating Allegations Swirl
The Texas Education Agency stresses that it uses a high threshold in making charges against schools or school districts.
Federal
Nebraska Moves to Statewide Reading, Math Exams
The exams would supplement—and could eventually compete with—the state’s unique patchwork of district-level assessments.
Education Funding
Key Groups Differ on Changes Sought for Impact Aid
Two groups are gearing up for a debate over potentially
major changes to the $1.2 billion-a-year federal impact-aid program.
Reading & Literacy
Evaluation Indicates Limited Effects Under Early Reading First Program
The program has had the most significant effect in improving classroom activities and materials.
School & District Management
Harvard Course Yields Education Entrepreneurs
An elective class for M.B.A. students probes the link between effective leadership and better outcomes.
Curriculum
Arts Education Building Steam in L.A. Area Schools
The Arts for All program has expanded to 27 districts serving some 450,000 public school students.
Teaching Profession
Teaching Viewed as Stable and Respectable Profession
Teaching is one of the most stable and respected careers in China, but changes to the society and the education system are putting new pressures on teachers.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
U.S. to Create Framework for English-Proficiency Tests
The Department of Education is seeking recommendations on developing a framework that states can use to evaluate their English-language-proficiency standards and tests.
Federal
A Washington Roundup
GOP Bill Would Give More Title I Flexibility
Districts would be allowed to shift all of their money out of some federal programs to support efforts to improve disadvantaged students' academic achievement.
Early Childhood
Unions Eyeing Family Child-Care Providers
Low pay and a need for benefits are viewed as being major concerns for home-based operators.
Federal
Federal File
The GOP Field and Evolution
Presidential candidates haven’t delved in any detail into school accountability issues in debates.
Education Funding
Funding Level Divides Legislators, Districts
Lawmakers hiked the state’s formula aid for schools by $23.7 million, a 3.8 percent increase, for fiscal 2008.
Special Education
Vouchers Approved for Special Needs
The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship is patterned after a similar voucher program in Florida.
Teaching Profession
Teacher Pay, Charters Top Oklahoma Action
State lawmakers increased teacher pay and cleared the way for universities and cities to become chartering agencies in large school districts.
Recruitment & Retention
Oft-Cited Statistic Likely Inaccurate
"About half of all new teachers leave the profession after just five years on the job."
Recruitment & Retention
Gone After Five Years? Think Again
Common wisdom says as many as half of new teachers quit after five years. The half-dozen Education Week profiled starting out are still teaching, though only two are in needy schools.
Education
A State Capitals Roundup
Early-Childhood Summits
Ten states have each received $10,000 grants from the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices to hold summits on early-childhood education.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Student Leaders Connecting Online
Teenagers can exchange advice, chat about their experiences on the Student Leadership Network Forum.
Federal
Evidence Thin on Student Gains From NCLB Tutoring
Experts estimate that only three states have looked to see if "supplemental educational services" are boosting students’ scores on state tests.
Federal
Opinion
When States Seize Schools: A Cautionary Tale
This intuitively appealing approach promises far more than it can deliver.
Assessment
Opinion
Up Against the Wall
To have a valid growth model, schools need what families have: a common yardstick.
Federal
Business-Higher Ed. Group Offers Plan for Teacher Shortfall
A report foresees a vibrant, hands-on role for businesses in combating the much-publicized shortfall of math and science teachers in K-12 schools.
Education
Letter to the Editor
‘Perfect Storm’ Report: Alarm, But Not Blame
With the plethora of reports now in circulation, productive discussion is hindered if there is insufficient attention paid to the distinctions among them.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Do Courses on the Bible Facilitate Proselytizing?
Thank you for your insightful In Perspective article about schools’ efforts to teach the Bible from a nonreligious standpoint.
Education
Letter to the Editor
What’s Needed to Make Education Like Medicine
Jon Baron is right in identifying a profession against which our standards in education could be measured, whether they be “evidence-based” practices or other features.