October 31, 2012
Education Week, Vol. 32, Issue 10
Education
2012 Voter's Guide
Read about the issues and contests to watch Nov. 6, 2012 and the election-night stakes for state and federal education policy.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teacher Observation: High-Tech or Low-Tech?
Principals should mix high- and low-tech means to evaluate teachers during classroom visits, Kim Marshall writes.
Law & Courts
Pa. Plans Less-Severe Penalties for Minors Caught 'Sexting'
The new measure would make such acts a summary offense or a misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances, rather than the felony child-pornography charge currently filed in those cases.
Teaching
Attention Shifts to Blended Learning at Virtual Ed. Conference
Keynote speeches, panel discussions, and new reports all put the spotlight on models for combining face-to-face and online instruction.
School & District Management
Miami-Dade Schools Win $550,000 Broad Prize
The district, a five-time finalist, won for its efforts to narrow achievement gaps, and improve instruction and management.
School & District Management
Teacher-Leadership Degrees Aim to Fill Career Gaps
Programs in teacher leadership have emerged as a growing number of teachers look to advance their careers and stay in the classroom.
School Climate & Safety
Classroom Management: Suspension Prevention
Some schools are cutting down on suspensions and office referrals by bolstering training in classroom management.
School & District Management
News in Brief
El Paso Cheating Case Gets Fresh Scrutiny
A former Texas education official will oversee a state-ordered investigation of the El Paso school district amid a cheating scandal.
Standards & Accountability
News in Brief
Date Set for Release Of Social Studies Draft
Social studies specialists have been working on a draft framework for common social studies standards which is set to be released Nov. 17.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Voters to Decide Tax For Arts Education
Portland, Ore., residents will be asked to vote on whether to pay higher taxes for arts education in the trendy city.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Boston Schools Chief Wins Urban Ed. Award
Carol R. Johnson, the superintendent of Boston's schools since 2009, was awarded the Richard R. Green award at the Council of the Great City Schools conference in Indianapolis this month. She will receive a $10,000 scholarship to award to a Boston student or a student from her alma mater.
States
Education Issues Underscore Election Stakes at All Levels
From the presidential campaign to statewide ballot measures, education has been a steady theme in the 2012 election season.
Classroom Technology
News in Brief
Smaller iPad Tablet Touted for Schools
Apple unveiled a new iPad Mini, and is touted as offering the same functions as the original iPad but with more portability.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Miss. Cited in Lawsuit Over Juvenile Arrests
The U.S. Department of Justice sued several government agencies in Mississippi last week, saying they systematically violate the due process rights of juveniles and are thus operating a "school to prison" pipeline in the area.
Law & Courts
Practical Hurdles at Play in Pa. Charter-Law Stumble
Lawmakers failed to agree on a bill to set up a commission looking into charter finance.
College & Workforce Readiness
Graduation Rates Latest NCLB Waiver Flash Point
The Education Department is being urged to stiffen graduation-rate accountability in waivers given to states from NCLB provisions.
School & District Management
Opinion
Rethinking Principal Evaluation
Student test scores should not serve as the major criterion for principal evaluation, Gail Connelly and JoAnn Bartoletti write.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
About the Necktie
Educator Scott D. Farver comes to terms with the importance of dressing up for his students.
Early Childhood
Governor Wins Round in N.C. Pre-K Feud
North Carolina's governor will shift $20 million in unspent funds to enroll 6,300 more 4-year-olds.
Families & the Community
Letter to the Editor
Article Spotlights Needs of Hispanic Parents
To the Editor:
As the article "'Gateway' Districts Struggle to Serve Immigrant Parents" (Oct. 3, 2012) makes clear, Hispanic students are being unfairly discriminated against in school districts across the country. Many schools are consistently neglecting to provide parents with necessary documentation in Spanish, making it impossible for non-English-speakers to access their children's grades and disciplinary reports. Not only is this a discriminatory practice, it also contributes to the low performance of Hispanic students on state standardized tests.
As the article "'Gateway' Districts Struggle to Serve Immigrant Parents" (Oct. 3, 2012) makes clear, Hispanic students are being unfairly discriminated against in school districts across the country. Many schools are consistently neglecting to provide parents with necessary documentation in Spanish, making it impossible for non-English-speakers to access their children's grades and disciplinary reports. Not only is this a discriminatory practice, it also contributes to the low performance of Hispanic students on state standardized tests.
Teaching Profession
Letter to the Editor
Test Scores Should Play Smaller Role in Evaluation
To the Editor:
Everyone in education seems to be choosing sides in the Chicago teachers' strike, especially now that it's over. One of the major issues in the strike was the percentage of a teacher's overall evaluation that would be based on student test scores ("Chicago Dispute Puts Spotlight on Teacher Evaluation," Sept. 19, 2012).
Everyone in education seems to be choosing sides in the Chicago teachers' strike, especially now that it's over. One of the major issues in the strike was the percentage of a teacher's overall evaluation that would be based on student test scores ("Chicago Dispute Puts Spotlight on Teacher Evaluation," Sept. 19, 2012).
Federal
Letter to the Editor
Centralized Schools Are Not the Solution
To the Editor:
Justin Baeder asks a lot of questions in his recent blog post about "Equity and Waning Local Control" (Oct. 9, 2012), to the extent that it's possible to decipher what exactly he's arguing. He seemingly criticizes the United States' federalist structure for creating "an extremely loose confederation" of schools that underperform "tightly coordinated, centralized system[s]" like Finland or Singapore on student-achievement scores.
Justin Baeder asks a lot of questions in his recent blog post about "Equity and Waning Local Control" (Oct. 9, 2012), to the extent that it's possible to decipher what exactly he's arguing. He seemingly criticizes the United States' federalist structure for creating "an extremely loose confederation" of schools that underperform "tightly coordinated, centralized system[s]" like Finland or Singapore on student-achievement scores.
Education
Clarification
Clarification
A story about the Chicago teachers' strike in the Sept. 26, 2012, issue of Education Week cited a 17.6 percent average salary increase for Chicago teachers over four years. That figure includes pay premiums for experience and for advanced degrees.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Peacemaking Is Crucial For Teachers, Students
To the Editor:
I read with great interest Christopher L. Doyle's Commentary "The 9/11 Generation: An Exit Strategy for Moral Hardness in the Classroom" (Sept. 12, 2012). With an anthropologist's eye and brimming heart, Mr. Doyle enumerates the ways in which we all have become desensitized to the violence that pervades our lives today. He unabashedly calls us all to task and demands that we make a stand.
I read with great interest Christopher L. Doyle's Commentary "The 9/11 Generation: An Exit Strategy for Moral Hardness in the Classroom" (Sept. 12, 2012). With an anthropologist's eye and brimming heart, Mr. Doyle enumerates the ways in which we all have become desensitized to the violence that pervades our lives today. He unabashedly calls us all to task and demands that we make a stand.
Federal
Obituary
1972 Presidential Candidate, Child-Nutrition Advocate Dies
George McGovern died Oct. 21 at the age of 90.
Education Funding
News in Brief
Audit Faults Federal Charter-Fund Tracking
An audit of charter school spending at the U.S. Department of Education concludes that federal officials have not properly monitored how states have spent that money.
Student Well-Being
News in Brief
Sport Status Urged for Cheerleading
With the number of cheerleading injuries continuing to climb, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement offering recommendations for ways to prevent them.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Leader Pipeline
More than half of Iowa's school principals will be eligible for retirement over the next five years, spreading evenly across the state.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Technology Grants
Applicants to the federal funding program, E-rate, are torn over whether the program should continue to fund internal maintenance and network infrastructure projects.
