April 25, 2012
Education Week, Vol. 31, Issue 29
Teaching
Project-Based Learning Helps At-Risk Students
An alternative school in Oregon offers students who struggled in a regular setting an unusual curriculum.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Cognition
While vitamin D has been shown to boost adult cognition, students' school performance doesn't benefit from an extra dose of sun or a vitamin supplement, according to a study at the University of Bristol, in England.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Unequal Opportunities
A new report finds that public school children in New York City have access to vastly different educational opportunities based on where they live.
Reading & Literacy
Report Roundup
Early Reading
Teachers and parents could help boost preschoolers' reading skills later on just by changing how they read books aloud to the children, a new study suggests.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Sports Injuries
Thirteen high school football players were left permanently disabled as a result of a football-related brain injury in 2011, the most ever recorded in one year.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
Education Spending
A new study raises some red flags around how states portrayed their continuing support for K-12 and higher education—amid the Great Recession years—on applications for federal education jobs aid.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
College-Going Rates Gauge Schools' Health
Just as price-to-earnings ratios show the financial health of a business, researchers at Harvard University are developing common indicators that will help determine the health and performance of school systems.
Reading & Literacy
Common Standards Ignite Debate Over Prereading
Many educators have inferred that the common core bans the practice of providing students with context and content before they read text.
Federal
Policy Shop Casts Long K-12 Shadow
The American Legislative Exchange Council—known as ALEC—has helped shape debate on issues such as vouchers and "parent trigger" laws in statehouses nationwide.
Reading & Literacy
Accountability Moving Beyond Math, Reading Tests
In many waivers to the main K-12 education law, states propose testing students in science, social studies, and writing, too.
College & Workforce Readiness
Overhaul Proposed for Career, Tech. Ed. Program
Changes would be aimed at ensuring the program better prepares students to join the labor force.
Federal
Waiver Promises May Put Cash Squeeze on States
NCLB flexibility requires fresh attention to low-performing schools, but not all can expect get extra federal aid.
School & District Management
Analysis Links Zoning Policies and Disparities
A new Brookings report illuminates some stark test-score differences between public schools in low-income neighborhoods and those in pricier, more-exclusive enclaves.
School & District Management
Compromise Set on Improving Cleveland Schools
The mayor and the teachers’ union have agreed on a plan that calls for taking over struggling schools and revamping salary scales.
Early Childhood
Contest Under Way for $7.6 Billion in Head Start Grants
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has opened the first phase of a Head Start competition that will require some large urban agencies and other longtime providers to vie for funding for the first time.
Special Education
S.C. Penalty Stands in Spec. Ed. Dispute
The state is refused another extension of the $36 million federal penalty for not spending enough on special education.
Education
Correction
Correction
The Commentary "A Flawed Approach to Reading in the Common-Core Standards" in the Feb. 29, 2012, issue of Education Week should have said that the Common Core State Standards have been accepted by all but four states.
Early Childhood
News in Brief
La. Law Will Require 'Seamless' Pre-K
Gov. Jindal last week signed legislation that requires the state education board to create an early-childhood-education-and-care network.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
School Violence Series Wins Pulitzer Prize
The Philadelphia Inquirer won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its extensive reporting last year on violence in that city's district.
Federal
News in Brief
Duncan Shares List of Rural Priorities
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week outlined four priorities for his rural education agenda.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Texas Funding Trial Scheduled for Fall
A case pitting Texas school districts against the state over cuts in education funding now has an official place on the judicial calendar.
School Choice & Charters
News in Brief
Mo. Board to Close Troubled Charters
The Missouri board of education voted last week to close all six charter schools in St. Louis run by Imagine Schools Inc.
Classroom Technology
News in Brief
Tablet for Schools Introduced by Intel
Intel has announced the launch of its 7-inch tablet encased in rugged plastic, created specifically for the education market.
School & District Management
News in Brief
New State Chief Named in Maryland
Lillian M. Lowery announced last week that she will take over this summer as state superintendent in Maryland.
Education
News in Brief
Victim of Bully Gets $4 Million Settlement
A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a student who was paralyzed after a known bully punched him.
Law & Courts
News in Brief
Top North Dakota Court Upholds Officer's Search of Student
A North Dakota school resource officer's search of a student that turned up illegal drugs was reasonable, the state's highest court has ruled.
Science
Opinion
Hooking Kids on Science
With a draft of the science standards due out soon, Deanna Kuhn suggests how to make the subject more engaging to students.
Federal
Opinion
When Washington Focuses on Schools
Applied to the right issues, federal dictates can make their mark in schools, Chester E. Finn Jr. writes.
Families & the Community
Letter to the Editor
Nonprofits Can Play Part in Parent Engagement
To the Editor:
A recent Education Week article asserts that "Parental Engagement Proves No Easy Goal" (April 4, 2012). Indeed, the arguments cited in the article—that principals are already saddled with other responsibilities, that evidence-based family engagement models are few and far between, and that schools generally lack guidance on how to promote engagement—may create challenges for fulfilling Title I requirements in this area. This, despite the fact that family engagement is among our best hopes for addressing the achievement gap.
A recent Education Week article asserts that "Parental Engagement Proves No Easy Goal" (April 4, 2012). Indeed, the arguments cited in the article—that principals are already saddled with other responsibilities, that evidence-based family engagement models are few and far between, and that schools generally lack guidance on how to promote engagement—may create challenges for fulfilling Title I requirements in this area. This, despite the fact that family engagement is among our best hopes for addressing the achievement gap.