Education Program
This Week in Education
December 13 - December 19, 2007
K-12
Students still safest in school, report says
Students are still safer in school than anywhere else, according to a report released this month from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
Poverty’s Effect on U.S. Scores Greater Than for Other Nations
Not only did many industrialized countries outperform the United States in science on a recent international exam, but American students’ academic achievement was also more likely to be affected by their wealth or poverty and family background than was their peers’ in higher-scoring nations.
Villaraigosa wins bid to take over seven LAUSD schools
Marking a major political coup, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won his bid to manage seven Los Angeles Unified schools as a majority of parents and teachers voted to partner on education reform, according to results released Wednesday.
In Gaps at School, Weighing Family Life
THE federal No Child Left Behind law of 2002 rates schools based on how students perform on state standardized tests, and if too many children score poorly, the school is judged as failing. But how much is really the school’s fault? A new study by the Educational Testing Service — which develops and administers more than 50 million standardized tests annually, including the SAT — concludes that an awful lot of those low scores can be explained by factors that have nothing to do with schools.
No Child Left Behind? Say It in Spanish
As school enrollment for Hispanic children declines in New York City and in other urban areas around the metropolitan region, school districts in dozens of outlying suburbs are adding seats and bilingual programs to address a sharp increase in the number of Hispanic students whose parents are immigrants.
Leadership
Principals called key in failing schools
An alarming proportion of Maryland's poorest and lowest-performing schools have the least-experienced principals and struggle with high turnover in leadership, according to a study of dozens of schools in the region released yesterday. Paying substantial bonuses and other financial incentives are crucial to reversing that trend and improving academics at "challenging schools,"
Should the Mayor Be in Charge?: The power lies in partnerships, not takeovers (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org)
While mayors may have improved the efficiency and oversight of school system operations in a few large cities, mayors who partner with school boards rather then take over districts are far more successful, writes Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association. School boards are better equipped to tackle tough educational issues, but partnering with city leaders can certainly help engender community policies that benefit schools, according to Bryant.
Getting Serious About Leadership
Lost amid the sea of reforms, reports, commentaries, and suggestions on how to improve the nation’s public education system is a simple truth: Underperforming schools are unlikely to succeed until we get serious about preparing and supporting school leaders.
Toward the ‘Highly Qualified’ Principal
As Congress considers the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, it could take an important step forward by supporting proposals that help set higher standards for principals and improve pay for effective leaders, particularly those who work in high-need schools.
How States Can Build Leadership Systems
As a nation in the midst of unprecedented, 21st-century economic challenges, we can no longer afford to rely on the luck of the draw to find the leaders our schools need.
District links grant to ISTEP+ scores
Fort Wayne Community Schools officials think there may be a connection between improved ISTEP+ scores and the hundreds of thousands of grant dollars awarded to the district.
Draud lauds education summits
Jon Draud, recently named Kentucky education commissioner, plans to use a Northern Kentucky program as an ember to light a fire under education throughout the state.
School Choice
Vouchers for disabled students popular but limited
Georgia's new Special Needs Scholarship program — built on the promise that public school families of disabled children would get more schooling options — was a disappointment for most first-year applicants. According to state Department of Education figures, of 5,750 families who applied for a tuition voucher, 85 percent either couldn't find a campus to accept their child, couldn't afford the additional private school costs or didn't meet all of the scholarship's eligibility criteria.
Key legislators craft Florida charter-school reform
A push to make charter schools more academically and financially accountable gained powerful support Monday as the state House education leader announced that he will team up with his Senate counterpart to drive the reforms.
Home-school kids barred from activities
Most districts do not allow home-schooled children to participate - citing financial limitations, links between extracurricular activities and curriculum, and a limited number of program slots. The number of home-schooled students in New York has risen steadily to 20,356 in the 2003-04 school year from 1,838 in the 1987-88 school year, according to the State Education Department…Eighteen states require public schools to allow home-schoolers access to sports and other activities, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.
Regional Charter School System Proposed in Rhode Island
Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee is proposing opening a public elementary school to serve five separate communities. The new school would enroll up to 200 elementary school children, have no admission criteria, and would be the first of several schools to be established over the next five to six years in the Blackstone Valley. The school would be supervised by the mayor or a board of mayors from the five communities, with the day-to-day operations run by a nonprofit organization. The school could be created under the state's charter school law, but the General Assembly has limited the approval of new charter schools in the state. McKee and supporters of the regional system would have to get the General Assembly to lift the charter moratorium or draft new legislation that specifically creates the Blackstone Valley regional school system. "We're talking about building it completely from scratch, creating a network of schools that is a lot more transparent and more accountable," says the town director of Children, Youth and Learning, Michael Magee. "If the current system could control costs and improve education, we wouldn't be doing this."
STEM
'... Something needs to be done now': Poor showing on international exam prompts calls for better science instruction
National standards, a high regard for teachers and the teaching profession, more equitable distribution of resources, autonomy at the school level to implement reforms, and opportunities to personalize instruction: These are some of the key reasons Finland saw its students earn the highest marks in both science and math on a recent international exam.
Teacher
Teacher qualifications improve in the past decade
Beginning teachers have better academic credentials than their predecessors did a decade ago, suggesting that tougher requirements at all levels — from the federal government to the local teacher's college — have forced teachers' colleges to improve offerings while luring more qualified candidates into teaching.
Education Finance
CLASS(ROOM) WARFARE
We'll soon know just how serious Pennsylvania legislators are about fixing an out-of-whack school-funding system that leaves far too many districts, including Philadelphia's, short of the cash needed to adequately educate their children. The House subcommittee on education will vote this week on House Resolution 460, which would create a 40-member joint legislative commission to recommend changes in how the state funds its 501 school districts.
Alabama may have to dip into reserves to fully fund education in 2008
There's a good chance Gov. Bob Riley will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to avoid cuts in education spending this school year, finance and education officials predict.
Increases in Education Aid Range From 2 to 20 Percent Under Corzine Plan
Each of New Jersey’s 615 school districts would receive 2 percent to 20 percent more in state aid next year under a new financing formula officially unveiled by Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after parts of the proposal were revealed by state lawmakers and state education officials.
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