Neag Center Home Page | News & Views
A new study by the American Association of University Women yields some disturbing results: nearly one in ten children in America will be a victim of sexual misconduct by a school employee at some point in grades K-12. However, some critics question the report's categories, which place of sexual abuse and "dirty" jokes under the same heading:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/07/01/study_sex_abuse_prevalent_in_schools
Looks can be deceiving—but they can also be significant. A new report found that visually attractive school buildings were also likely to house more caring and better achieving students:
asbointl.org/WhatsNew/SchoolBusinessAffairs/index.asp?bid=7496
NCLB—or at least a related legal action—is leaving teachers behind: none of the 30 states which has expressed dissatisfaction with No Child Left Behind has agreed to back legal action raised by the NEA against the law:
www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/28/teacher.politics.ap/index.html
How do we keep good teachers in the classroom? Comprehensive support for beginning teachers, often referred to as induction, is the key, a new report shows:
www.all4ed.org/press/pr_062304.html
Testing the tests: this article discusses the process of developing standardized tests, including the creation and weeding of questions biased by region and other factors:
www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-06-28-standardized-tests_x.htm
Sending a bill for school lunches to the President: around 50,000 children would receive free school lunches under a bill recently passed through Congress and sent the President for approval:
www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/25/school.lunch.reut/index.html
A recent case may spotlight a growing problem: in Portland, the parents of an 8-year-old with Asperger's are taking a local school to court on the grounds that the school's decision to ban him from the playground after reports and observations of inappropriate behavior on the boy's part is discrimination. Some say that this case is not atypical of discrimination against individuals with "invisible" disorders like those on the autistic spectrum:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/06/28/he_cant_play?pg=2
In a new edition of Education For All's Global Monitoring report, striking disparities in educational opportunities between the genders were noted in as many as 54 nations. The report focuses not just on quantitative assessment but on the quality of the opportunities offers to boys and girls:
portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23023&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
A new study in the June issue of Psychological Science has found links between the current version of the SAT and intelligence tests. That's news to the test's designers, however, who insist it's intended only to measure college-oriented reasoning skills:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/07/04/the_sat_tests
Science gets left behind: in Tennessee, some science teachers fear that, because of a lack of state mandates covering minimum times for science classes, students may be losing out on basic science experiences and learning:
tennessean.com/education/archives/04/06/53752735.shtml?Element_ID=53752735
While many states' public opposition to NCLB has cooled, behind the scenes many states are still seeking relief from its provisions:
www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=383406
One of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's latest Education Topics is one that often comes up in gifted-education circles: differentiation. Check out this take on it here:
www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=818
Sometimes it's a good idea to look "gift horses" in the mouth—and that's what some North Carolina schools are doing with volunteers. Beginning next fall, volunteers will have to register with the school system and some will undergo background checks. Opponents say the plan will scare off reliable volunteers who might prefer not to undergo background checks:
www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1361747p-7484921c.html
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development recently released a report looking at the "triad" of assessment, retention, and accountability in schools:
www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=1686
Let's hear it for girl power! In Britain, 4- and 5-year-old girls bested their male age-peers on all of 13 early-learning evaluations:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3835827.stm
Crossing the "big pond" via videoconferencing, students in the US and the UK had a chance to shares their perspectives on world history. This pilot program was financed by the Massachusetts National Guard:
www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1364995p-7487858c.html
When it comes to quality education, leadership counts, and not just for school administrators. A new report released by the National League of Cities shows that voters consider the leadership of local elected officials to be key in supporting schools:
www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=AAAFC94A-7EA5-443F-99E9AB68262030DD
All high schools are equal, but some are more equal than others: The Center for the Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins has recently identified a group of schools which produce the highest numbers of dropouts. The data shows trends with most of the high-dropout high schools clustered in urban areas and southern and southwestern states:
www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs/rsch/Locating_Dropouts.pdf
In Iowa, the State Board of Educational Examiners is considering imposing new and tougher guidelines on prospective math teachers. New requirements would include taking at least 24 credits of high-level college math:
desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040625/NEWS02/406250375/1004
The letter of the law but not the spirit: in Washington state, some schools which recently received their share of CDs awarded as a result of an anti-trust suit against the recording industry have found that many of the CDs were either inappropriate or duplicates:
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/179304_cdupdate24.html
A new Congressional bill aims to set strict nutritional guidelines for school lunch programs. The bill would also restrict the kinds of foods that could be sold on school property:
desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73175725116047&Avis=D2&Dato=20040625&Kategori=LIFE02&Lopenr=406250344&Ref=AR
According to a new report from National School Safety and Services, this last year saw the highest number of school fatalities in the past decade. Some officials cite school-safety budget cuts as one cause of the rise in safety concerns:
www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040628/6322568s.htm
Not a kids' game anymore: despite a resurgence in the popularity of dodgeball as an adult sport, most schools are keeping the game out of bounds, citing safety reasons and concerns about bullying:
www.freep.com/news/education/dodge26_20040626.htm
In Boston, school officials are considering a radical restructuring of their high school system. The new plan would replace the tradition four grades with a flexible system that would allow top students to graduate in as little as three years:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/06/27/boston_considers_changing_four_year_high_school_system_1088325710
Professional development provides advances for teachers—and students: according to a recent issue of ASCD's ResearchBrief, some improvements in professional development can enhance student learning:
www.ascd.org/cms/objectlib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/publications/researchbrief/volume2/v2n13.html
Sometimes smaller is better: A new report by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform calls for the development of smaller learning communities in place of the larger middle grade schools in some areas:
www.mgforum.org/Policy/small%20communities/page%201.htm
In Missouri, the Parkway School Board has crossed the digital divide, pursuing a paperless philosophy including online reports. Other districts in the state may follow their lead:
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Education/9116DC19A7180ECB86256EC100455AB3?OpenDocument&Headline=School+boards+are+going+paperless
The voucher system in Colorado was recently dealt a hard blow by the state supreme court. The court ruled the state's voucher system unconstitutional:
insidedenver.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_2998452,00.html
The US Department of Education recently reprimanded the Fresno, CA, school district from discouraging parents from seeking NCLB-endorsed private tutoring for their students at district expense. Previously district personnel had encouraged parents to exhaust all other options before seeking tutoring services:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/06/15/state2029EDT0388.DTL
Airplanes aren't the only place where cell phones can interfere with service! In Massachusetts, state education officials are considering a ban on cell phones during state examinations:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2004/06/16/schools_see_cellphone_cheating
This year, changes in the allocation of Title I money bring mixed news for schools. While some states will see an increase in the money available to support their low-income students, others will have their funds cut:
www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=379063&columns=true
Massachusetts high school seniors who score well on the MCAS will soon enjoy more than a sense of accomplishment. The state has recently approved funding for scholarships for seniors who do exceptionally well on the test:
news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=32027
Most fields have a language or jargon all their own, and education is no exception. The ASCD's Lexicon of Learning provides a handy guide to "teacher-ese":
www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=1112
Whose job is it? That's the question this article puts to those interested in school reform, addressing the issue of teachers' role in promoting change:
www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/dufour253.cfm
Well-off school districts don't just enjoy an academic advantage: this article indicates that they also win more athletic contests than poorer schools. Reasons cited include the presence of sports booster clubs and other sources of funding:
www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040617/6294385s.htm
Teaching for America: a recent independent study by Mathematica Policy Research indicates that graduates of the Teach for America program, despite lacking the kind of formal training mandated by NCLB, showed a 10% advantage in students' mathematical progress over other teachers. The report is available on Teach for America's website:
www.teachforamerica.org/studies.html
Another review of the study is posted here:
www.teachingquality.org/resources/html/TFA_Report.htm
In Seattle, Antioch University found a list of heroes: 150 individuals with ties to the Pacific Northwest who lived Horace Mann's maxim: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." This article encourages young people to take this as their goal:
seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/178039_robert16.html
For many teachers today legal issues are a major concern—not just the question of students breaking the law, but of teachers and administrators being themselves subject to legal action:
www.csmonitor.com/2004/0614/p09s01-coop.html
And this organization, Common Good, seeks to stem the tide of lawsuits against practitioners of the helping professions:
cgood.org
A new study finds that high school exit exams are more than generous in their expectations of student knowledge. This study found that much of the material tested, for example, was intended to be learned early in high school:
www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/10/graduation.tests.ap/index.html
Many parents are "just saying no" to school recommendations of diagnoses, and medication, for their children. Many states are now considering bills to limit school recommendations of medication—and many teachers and administrators agree:
www.csmonitor.com/2004/0614/p12s01-legn.html
The US may be the world's last superpower, but we're trailing the pack when it comes to time for families, according to a new study. The study indicates that Americans have less of a legal right to time off for families, including maternity and child-care leave, than workers in other countries:
www.globalworkingfamilies.org
The National Forum on Education Statistics is a must-see for researchers and practitioners. Their site also has a new look—check it out at:
nces.ed.gov/forum
The E-Rate education program has some people irate—at present, there are approximately 40 cases of fraud pending against the organization. But supporters say the benefits of the program, which provides much needed Internet access to poor and rural school, outweigh its problems:
news.com.com/Eroding+E-rate/2009-1028_3-5236723.html?tag=nefd.lede
Most of us would acknowledge the importance of student health in learning. This website provides some valuable resources for dealing with children's health issues in your school and community:
www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=1914&flag=1914&showsubs=0,2117
In America, most children treat school as a chore to be avoided. But in Liberia, over 2000 children—former child soldiers—would give anything to return to a national education system ill-prepared to take them in:
allafrica.com/stories/200406170003.html
In Britain, student assessment begins in school. . . pre-school, that is. This year, teachers will work their way through an exhaustive assessment of their pre-school students, despite critiques of the process:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/21/nedu21.xml
In North Carolina, the state is considering dropping its use of incentive pay for teachers of math, science, and special education in struggling schools. Teacher advocates argue, however, that a more effective recruitment and retention tool would be to provide smaller classes and more administrative support:
www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1356053p-7479431c.html
To connect or not to connect: in Italy, a new device jams students' mobile phones as they enter schools to prevent cellular cheating. On the other hand, new assistive technologies for disabled students are welcomed, so much so that future teachers at New Jersey's William Patterson University have the opportunity to take a class in using the new tools:
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=5&u=/nm/20040618/tc_nm/italy_telephone_dc
Learning about learning: a new issue of the ASCD's Education Update discusses how what we know about children's learning can help us to know ourselves:
www.ascd.org/cms/objectlib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_update/index.html
First there was a Mayflower Compact, now there's the New England Compact—but this one is about education. The New England Compact is an effort among three state, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermort, to craft identical standardized tests:
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2004/06/22/partnership_opened_on_student_testing