Issues

April 1, 2009

Education Week, Vol. 28, Issue 27
Federal Duncan Underlines Top Federal Education Priorities
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sat down with Education Week to discuss the stimulus package, the 2010 budget, and his plans for implementing President Barack Obama's education agenda.
Alyson Klein, Michele McNeil & Stephen Sawchuk, March 31, 2009
•
7 min read
Federal 'No Effects' Studies Raising Eyebrows
Disappointing results from federally commissioned experiments are prompting questions about the studies’ designs­—and their payoff.
Debra Viadero, March 31, 2009
•
8 min read
School Choice & Charters Transparency Time For Vouchers?
A Washington think tank argues that private schools that accept students under voucher programs have a responsibility to be transparent.
Erik W. Robelen, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Education News in Brief Dropout Fighter Tapped
Carmita P. Vaughan, the former chief of staff of the Chicago public schools’ office of high schools and high school programs, has taken her expertise to the America’s Promise Alliance.
Ann Bradley, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Education News in Brief Labor Leader Honored
The Los Angeles Unified School District has voted to make Cesar Chavez’s March 31 birthday a school holiday.
The Associated Press, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Karen Tam/AP-File
Education News in Brief Historian John Hope Franklin Dies
John Hope Franklin, who was a pioneer in chronicling African-American history and worked on the nation's landmark school desegregation case, died March 24 in Durham, N.C., of congestive heart failure. He was 94.
The Associated Press & Kathleen Kennedy Manzo, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Curriculum News in Brief Evolution Debate Remains Vexing for Texas Board
The Texas board of education has tentatively dropped language from the state science standards saying students should be taught the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution, a move that pleased scientists.
Sean Cavanagh, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Teaching Profession News in Brief Alabama Combines Federal Dollars to Stave Off 3,800 Teacher Layoffs
Nearly 3,800 Alabama teaching jobs that were in danger of being lost will be spared for at least two years, thanks to the federal economic-stimulus package, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Joe Morton announced last week.
The Associated Press, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Teaching Profession News in Brief Mass. to Track Students' Scores in Bid to Better Assess Progress
Massachusetts education officials say they will start tracking the progress of individual students to gauge whether they are making progress.
The Associated Press, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
School & District Management News in Brief Broad Management Center Names Advisory Board for Programs
The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems has formed an advisory board made up of prominent education and business leaders to govern its executive-management programs. The group will meet regularly as the center works on increasing the number of people it trains.
Dakarai I. Aarons, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Teaching Profession News in Brief State Consortium to Update Standards for New Teachers
The Council of Chief State School Officers announced last week that its Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium will convene a committee to revise its core standards for what teachers should know and be able to do.
Stephen Sawchuk, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Education Funding News in Brief Districts Report Big Budget Woes
Many school districts are proceeding with plans to cut employees and programs, despite a massive infusion of federal money set to flow to states in the next few weeks, according to the American Association of School Administrators.
Christina A. Samuels, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Teaching Profession News in Brief Colorado Lawmakers, Unions Stall Over Teacher-Tracking System
A proposed teacher-tracking system in Colorado that some see as the key to getting millions in extra stimulus money has gotten bogged down because of a fight between state lawmakers and the teachers' union.
The Associated Press, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
School & District Management Louisiana Boards Feel Under Attack
The state schools chief would like to clip their wings—and lawmakers are considering a similar proposal.
Erik W. Robelen, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Federal Report Roundup Dropout Prevention
Students attending middle college high schools are no more likely than their counterparts in traditional high school programs to stay in school or graduate, according to the latest What Works Clearinghouse review of that program.
Debra Viadero, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Federal Report Roundup High School Graduation Rates
A new report analyzes the changes that each state might have to make in its graduation-rate policy and calculations in order to conform to new federal regulations.
Catherine Gewertz, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Federal Report Roundup U.S. Urged to Shed 'Tunnel Vision'
The United States has "tunnel vision" when it comes to comparing the performance of its students, its educational expectations of students, and policies affecting every level of education, the Alliance for Excellent Education writes in a new policy brief.
David J. Hoff, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
English Learners Report Roundup Research Report: English-Language Learners
Children from immigrant families do better academically in English-as-a-second-language classes when they attend schools with a high number of other immigrant students, a study says, but ESL placement has a negative effect on student achievement for English-language learners in schools with small immigrant populations.
Mary Ann Zehr, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Curriculum Report Roundup Science Instruction
Students with relatively weak mathematics skills who were given self-led, less-structured science instruction in high school were at a disadvantage in college biology and chemistry classes, compared with similarly skilled peers who had come from more-structured classes, a study has found.
Sean Cavanagh, March 31, 2009
•
1 min read
Federal Rules Allowing Extended Time on Graduation
Federal guidelines permit waivers from traditional timeline.
Catherine Gewertz, March 31, 2009
•
9 min read
Teaching Opinion Predicting the Past
"Garbing recycled bad ideas in the new century can’t help us, especially when our real problem is that most students haven’t mastered the skills that mattered in the last century," writes Peter Berger.
Peter N. Berger, March 30, 2009
•
5 min read
Federal K-12 Taking Primacy in States' Targeting of Stimulus Dollars
Many states are targeting the new education aid at elementary and secondary schools, rather than toward higher education.
Alyson Klein, March 30, 2009
•
3 min read
Curriculum Opinion Pleasure, Beauty, and Wonder
John M. Eger writes that "we need to define a well-rounded education and make the case for its importance in a global, innovation-based economy."
John M. Eger, March 30, 2009
•
4 min read
Law & Courts Arizona Voucher Programs Lose in State's High Court
Programs for students with disabilities and those in foster care violate a state ban on aid to private schools, the Arizona Supreme Court said.
Erik W. Robelen, March 30, 2009
•
1 min read
Teaching Profession Letter to the Editor For Effective Peer Review, Teachers' Input Must Count
To the Editor:
Jennifer Goldstein is right about the need for peer review to improve instructional quality ("Union Bashing Won’t Reform Our Schools," Commentary, March 11, 2009). But she omits two factors that are essential for the process to work fairly.
March 30, 2009
•
1 min read
School Choice & Charters Letter to the Editor Career-Themed Academies Provide '21st-Century Skills'
To the Editor:
The "flak" over 21st-century skills creates a needless dividing line that has already been successfully crossed ("Backers of '21st-Century Skills' Take Flak," March 4, 2009). Across the country, students in career-themed academies are engaging in project-based learning and experiencing paid internships that combine both academic-content knowledge and work-skills training. Projects that are based on industry-authentic problems and behaviors lead to 21st-century-skill attainment practiced in the internships.
March 30, 2009
•
1 min read
School & District Management Letter to the Editor Obama's Plans for Education Will Rely on School Leaders
To the Editor:
I read the article "Rigor, Rewards, Quality: Obama's Education Aims" (March 18, 2009) with great interest. President Barack Obama’s speech on March 10 laying out his plans for education echoes what the American Federation of School Administrators and other education professionals have said, time and time again, about the importance of investing in education.
March 30, 2009
•
1 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Federal Opinion Reforming Teaching: Are We Missing the Boat?
"It is time to put aside the tired debates over routes into teaching and focus on a clearer destination: substantially higher levels of teacher effectiveness," say Linda Darling-Hammond & David Haselkorn.
Linda Darling-Hammond & David Haselkorn, March 30, 2009
•
7 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Science Nanotechnology Slips Into Schools
A handful of teachers around the country have fashioned curriculum and lessons around the fast-emerging science of nanotechnology.
Sean Cavanagh, March 30, 2009
•
6 min read
Load More ▼