October 1, 2008
Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 06
School & District Management
Detroit School District Again Facing Deficit, Threat of State Action
The Detroit school system is facing a financial crisis that could lead to a takeover of its budget authority if state officials aren’t pleased with a plan to slash the budget.
Education
News in Brief
Awards Hail College Access
Three educators who have worked to increase access to college were awarded the 2008 Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
No Child Left Inside
Karen S. Harris used the environment as a teaching tool, resulting in higher test scores, better discipline, and more involvement from students and teachers.
Teaching Profession
Nurturing the Nest Egg
Seemingly arcane new federal rules about supplemental retirement plans have sparked a seismic shift in responsibility for school districts.
Education
New in Print
The latest publications on gender, race, school violence, urban schools, and more.
Education
Correction
Corrections
A story in the Sept. 24, 2008, issue of Education Week about adding learning time to school schedules misspelled the name of Bela P. Shah, a senior program associate for after-school initiatives at the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. Photo captions with the same story misspelled the names of three students. They are Yarei Sanchez, JazzLynn Garrido, and Lefstebany Franco.
School & District Management
AASA’s Leader Aims For Policy Influence
In hiring Daniel A. Domenech, the directors of the American Association of School Administrators were looking for an advocate who could position the group in the front row of education policy debates in Washington.
Federal
Education Budget Roiled by Financial Crisis
As a new federal fiscal year begins, a multi-billion-dollar plan to help the financial markets may leave the next president with little room for significant increases for K-12 schools.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Award Recognizes W.Va.’s Web Portal
West Virginia’s comprehensive—and clutter-free—education Web portal has won an award from a group that provides consulting services on educational information technology.
College & Workforce Readiness
Panel Urges Reduced Use of College-Admission Exams
As legions of high school students prepare to spend long Saturday mornings this fall taking the SAT or the ACT, a national panel is recommending that colleges consider dropping the tests as an entrance requirement
Federal
Testing Expert Sees ‘Illusions of Progress’ Under NCLB
In his new book, Harvard University researcher Daniel M. Koretz has some good news and some bad news for policymakers looking ahead to the reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Education Funding
California Budget Passed, Signed
Now that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a fiscal 2009 budget, almost three months into California’s new fiscal year, school districts will soon begin receiving more than $2 billion in long-delayed funding.
Education
News in Brief
Food Company to Aid Push for Expanding School Meals Efforts
A school food-service company has made a three-year commitment to fund grants aimed at increasing the number of students who participate in the federally subsidized school breakfast and summer feeding programs.
Curriculum
Report Roundup
Teacher Training in Reading Found to Have Mixed Effect
Two professional-development approaches based on a popular early reading program increased teachers’ knowledge of literacy development and their use of explicit reading instruction, but had little effect on achievement among 2nd graders in high-poverty schools, a federal study has found.
Special Education
Report Roundup
Reading Disabilities
Children with reading disabilities use more of their brains to comprehend sentences, says one of the first published studies to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activity associated with sentence comprehension among children with reading disabilities and typical readers.
Curriculum
News in Brief
Draft Texas Science Standards Remove Language Irking Scientists
A first draft of new Texas state science standards removes language that says students should understand the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories and hypotheses in biology.
Education Funding
Opinion
Urban Districts and National Foundations: Making the Marriage Work
Paul Goren and Judy Wurtzel describe some of the obstacles that prevent foundations and urban districts from forming successful marriages.
Curriculum
Report Roundup
Arts Assessment
Large-scale assessment of students’ proficiency in the arts could help ensure that children are offered standards-based instruction in music, visual art, theater, and dance, a new report contends.
Federal
Campaign K-12 Notebook
Sen. Barack Obama pledged last week to spend $2 billion to help eliminate the international “education gap” by 2015, if he is elected president.
Federal
News in Brief
‘Innovation’ Laboratory at Harvard to Study Incentives for Students
A new research institute at Harvard University aims to study and promote innovative strategies for improving urban education, with a focus on Chicago, New York City, and Washington.
Education
News in Brief
U.S. Gives $2 Million to Finance Literacy Programs Around World
The United States has given $2 million to launch a fund to promote literacy around the world as part of a global push by UNESCO to ensure basic skills among children and adults.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Behavior Problems
A practice guide for teachers recommends a mix of strategies to combat student behavior problems in elementary school classrooms.
Education
News in Brief
Clayton County, Ga., Board Plans to Take Steps to Win Accreditation
Hiring a rules expert for school board meetings, adding an internal auditor to the staff, and reworking the superintendent's contract are among the measures the Clayton County, Ga., district will implement to win back its accreditation.
School & District Management
Federal File
Exodus Begins at Ed. Dept.
The career merry-go-round at the U.S. Department of Education that coincides with every change of presidential administrations has begun.
Education
Report Roundup
Advertising in Schools
Pervasive advertising and marketing practices employed by businesses “reach into the lives of children and follow them to school,” concludes a new report.
Special Education
Report Roundup
ADHD and The Brain
Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore who are examining the neurological basis underpinning attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have shown that children with the condition have less activation in the brain region used to rapidly switch behavior
Education
Obituary
Deaths: J. Patrick Rooney
J. Patrick Rooney, an Indianapolis insurance executive who started the first privately financed voucher program for poor children, died Sept. 15 at the age of 80. Mr. Rooney was the chairman and chief executive officer of Golden Rule Insurance Co. His Educational Choice Charitable Trust in Indianapolis is still in operation.
Law & Courts
‘God’ in Classroom Gets Legal Scrutiny
A federal district judge's ruling suggests that a Calif. teacher has a right to display banners in his public school classroom with such slogans as “In God We Trust.”
Early Childhood
Absences in Early Grades Tied to Learning Lags
New analysis joins a small but growing body of research on absenteeism in the early grades.
