Education Program
This Week in Education
May 1 - May 7, 2008
Highlighted Bills of the Week
(Powered by State Net)
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Utah (HB 349)- Enacted
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Modifies provisions allowing students to attend public schools other than their school of residence; provides for an early and a late enrollment period; establishes different open enrollment thresholds for the early and late enrollment periods; modifies standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment; requires local school boards to post data on the school district's website regarding school capacity and applications for enrollment of nonresident students. Enrollment period for students expanded. |
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Minnesota (HB 3769) |
Committee on E-12 Education- This bill increases the age of compulsory attendance from 16 to 18. |
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This Week in Education
May 1 - May 7, 2008
K-12
Parents’ Role in Schools Earns Fresh Respect (EdWeek)
Taking on a task usually handled by PTAs and other parent groups, the Maryland Department of Education has launched an awards program to recognize parents who have made significant contributions to the schools in their community.
Homeless students on rise at schools
The number of homeless students attending Columbia-area schools has increased dramatically in the last three years, according to an analysis of numbers from the State Department of Education.
Study Questions 'No Child' Act's Reading Plan
A study by the Department of Education's research arm found that students in schools that use Reading First, which provides grants to improve elementary school reading, scored no better on comprehension tests than their peers who attended schools that did not receive program money
Reframing Bullying in Middle Schools
Bullying. We know it when we see it. Though we bemoan such behavior, it’s almost as if we expect it from adolescents. Even educators rarely do anything about it. And when such incidents are publicized by the finger-wagging, tongue-clicking media, they implicitly blame the kids. ”Watch out America!” the headlines warn. Adolescents are brutish, evil, aggressive, and immoral. Or are they?
If We’re Talking About Race, Let’s Talk About Education (EdWeek)
If we improve education for disenfranchised children and communities, then education itself becomes part of the solution to the full range of society’s inequities and broader ills.
K-12 Governance
Dade principal's $1-a-year pay offer turned down
Miami-Dade School Board members said proper budgeting protocol prevents them from accepting a beloved principal's offer to work at a bargain salary.
Leadership
Third candidate seeks state schools superintendent job
Former state Rep. Randy Dorn, once principal of Eatonville High School and now head of the second-largest public school workers union, announced Thursday that he’s running for the top job in the state school system. Dorn becomes the third candidate to enter the race for superintendent of public instruction.
State schools chief not seeking re-election
Indianapolis State Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed announced Friday she will retire rather than seek an unprecedented fifth term.
Principals at the Center (Edweek)
A committee of principals has devised an evaluation system based on seven standards believed to be characteristic of good school leadership. This school year, Pittsburgh principals will be evaluated for the first time according to how well they meet those characteristics. They can receive up to $12,000 in bonuses for meeting the standards and improving their students’ test scores.
No Child Left Behind
Entire Sixth Circuit to reconsider NCLB suit
A federal appeals court has agreed to reexamine a ruling by a panel of the court that revived a lawsuit challenging the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) for imposing unfunded mandates on states and school districts.
School Choice
State board to vote on charter school
The Wyoming Board of Education is reviewing the Cheyenne school board's rejection of a proposed charter school and expects to decide Monday whether to uphold the rejection or require another hearing.
Disputed charter school can’t be barred
Nevada Education Department officials do not want an out-of-state company opening a second charter school in the Las Vegas Valley this fall, but they can’t prevent it.
Post Secondary Education
Lawmakers Should Focus on Adult Students, Says Report With State-by-State Data
Colleges and universities are increasingly looking for ways to lure adult students to their campuses, believing that the education of older students may well hold the ticket to bolstering local and regional economies.
School Finance
School funding hurt by declining sales, income taxes
Schools throughout the state are feeling faint because the faltering economy is cutting off their lifeblood — funding derived from sales and income taxes.
Ind. appeals court revives school funding suit
The Indiana Court of Appeals today reinstated a case that challenges the state’s funding for schools, saying lawmakers have a duty to provide students with a broad education that prepares them to compete and participate in society.
STEM
Report: STEM Gap Widens for Underrepresented Minorities
Research released this month shows an expanding ethnicity gap for Americans pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. A new report from the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) reveals that the number minority students pursuing STEM degrees and careers has flattened out or even declined in recent years.
Online Education Cast as ‘Disruptive Innovation’
Technology-based forces of “disruptive innovation” are gathering around public education and will overhaul the way K-12 students learn—with potentially dramatic consequences for established public schools, according to an upcoming book that draws parallels to disruptions in other industries.
Summit: Save STEM or watch America fail
At current rates of investment in STEM research and education, America is losing its competitive edge, panelists warn.
I Know What You Did Last Math Class
A profusion of online programs that can track a student’s daily progress, including class attendance, missed assignments and grades on homework, quizzes and tests, is changing the nature of communication between parents and children, families and teachers. With names like Edline, ParentConnect, Pinnacle Internet Viewer and PowerSchool, the software is used by thousands of schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. PowerSchool alone is used by 10,100 schools in 49 states.
Wanted: More Hispanics in STEM fields : New initiatives aim to inspire Latinos to pursue science and technology careers
In what is becoming a national trend, leading businesses and education groups are launching new initiatives aimed at increasing the number of minorities--and Hispanics in particular--in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
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