This Week in Education
August 23 - August 29, 2007
Committee Releases Miller-McKeon NCLB Discussion Draft
Today Representatives George Miller and Howard "Buck" McKeon, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Labor, released a staff discussion draft of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
http://edlabor.house.gov/
Self-assessment tool measures schools’ safety plans: New online survey is a companion to CDW-G’s School Safety Index
A new online safety assessment tool gives school leaders a benchmark they can use in comparing their physical and IT security plans with those of other schools or districts across the country.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7316
NCLB
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleges that a loophole in the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) allows the government to misrepresent how prepared teachers are for their jobs, perpetuating a pattern of clustering inexperienced teachers in the neediest schools. As a result, the suit says, about 59,000 teachers across the country are considered "highly qualified" by the government even though they don't yet have a teaching credential.
Education Sector Summer Reading: America's Best Community Colleges
Education Sector's Kevin Carey teams up with The Washington Monthly to deliver the first-ever "community college rankings," part of the magazine's third-annual College Rankings Guide. Unlike other college guides, such as U.S. News and World Report, this guide asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.collegeguide.html
The quality of school-age child care in after-school settings
This brief, by the Harvard Family Research Project's Priscilla Little, identifies the features of high-quality after-school settings that have emerged from the research and are reflected in program quality tools. It also examines key research linking program quality to positive developmental outcomes; it reviews current practice in program quality assessment; and, it offers considerations for policymakers regarding future school-age care decisions in order to promote high-quality programs. The brief includes a listing of program quality assessment tools.
http://www.researchconnections.org/SendPdf?resourceId=12576
After-school activities declining: Some say it's another gap that hurts MPS students
This article notes that last school year only 1 in 10 high school students reported participating in extracurricular academic activities, and only 1 in 33 participated in music extracurricular activities. Those numbers were based on the 28 schools (representing some 12,000 students) that reported extracurricular participation levels. However, not every high school reports its participation levels to the district and state. Those reporting represent about half of the MPS high schools that offer any extracurricular activities after school.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=645089
A longer day, but less time for play: New kindergarten is more rigorous
The long list of expectations accompanies a transition this year by Manor View and other Maryland schools to a more academically rigorous, full-day kindergarten program, as required by state law. Under the terms of a landmark education reform bill enacted in 2002, every public school system must provide full-day instruction for kindergartners beginning this year.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.kindergarten26aug26002635,0,4791091.story
The Gifted Children Left Behind
With reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act high on the agenda as Congress returns from its recess, lawmakers must confront the fact that the law is causing many concerned parents to abandon public schools that are not failing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600909.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
State bill would limit ability to open new charter schools: Pending proposal takes approval power away from Board of Education, gives it to school boards
Senate Bill 92 would restricts the authority of the state Board of Education to approve new charter schools, instead ensuring that power rests primarily with local school boards.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/education/ci_6725178
Cyber charter roster shocks district: Pleasant Valley needs additional $160,000 to cover cost of students
A surge in cyber charter school enrollment in Monroe County's West End has blindsided Pleasant Valley Schools, forcing the district to cough up $160,000 more than what it expected to pay this school year.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3_1pleasant.6011119aug25,0,4162137.story?coll=all-travel-utl
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