EDUCATION AND EQUITY NEWS
Below are links to recent news articles and special reports on education and equity issues at the national level and for the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. (Note: Links are often rendered inactive some time after the article's publication date. If you are unable to locate an article by clicking on the title, please search the website of the publisher.) To search the archives for older articles, please click here
NATIONAL
Obama announces teacher training initiative (USA Today, January 6, 2010)President Barack Obama announced a $250 million initiative Wednesday to train math and science teachers and help meet his goal of pushing America's students from the middle to the top of the pack in those subjects in the next decade.
Gender Bias Is Alive and Well and Affecting Our Children (PTA.org, January 1, 2010)Many teachers, parents, and students are confused about gender equity in schools. They are not alone. We recently received a call from a young reporter who wanted to speak about our work "in making women superior to men." The reporter viewed gender bias in school as males versus females. We do not. Gender bias short-circuits both boys and girls, and both move forward when gender restrictions are removed.
NASA partnership hosts summer education programs for minority students (The Daily Tell, January 1, 2010)A new partnership led by NASA will pilot a series of multi-week math and science education programs this summer, the space agency announced on Wednesday. The goal of the new NASA initiative, called Summer of Innovation, will be to encourage low-income, minority students to pursue careers in engineering, math or science. NASA will competitively select school districts in up to seven states to pilot the program this summer.
Healthy Habits for TV, Video Games, and the Internet (KidsHealth, January 1, 2010)The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under age 2 have no screen time, and that kids older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.
Mission: Educational Engagement (Journal Sentinel, November 29, 2009)For decades, national studies have linked high parental engagement with higher rates of student achievement and interest in school. Yet attention on home life issues and parental involvement have languished in the field of American education reform. Efforts to improve educational outcomes long have centered on what happens in school - not what happens after the last bell of the day.
ELL Graduation Rates Often a Mystery (Education Week, September 8, 2009)Across the country, high school graduation rates are bemoaned with regularity. But many states and districts aren’t even tracking the rate for the fastest-growing population of students, or if they are, they aren’t telling the public how many English-language learners are leaving school with a diploma.
How Parents Can Support Kids (Parade Magazine, September 6, 2009)No day of the year held more anticipation for my sister, brother, and me than the first day of school—and our mom and dad made sure we never took it for granted. Every year, we had to neatly lay out our new pencils and notebooks the day before school. On my first day of kindergarten, my dad strapped me into a child seat on the back of his bicycle and pedaled to the schoolhouse door to guide my first step into the brave new world of teachers, principals, and classmates.
A Surge in Homeless Pupils Strains Schools (New York Times, September 5, 2009)In the small trailer her family rented over the summer, 9-year-old Charity Crowell picked out the green and purple outfit she would wear on the first day of school. She vowed to try harder and bring her grades back up from the C’s she got last spring — a dismal semester when her parents lost their jobs and car and the family was evicted and migrated through friends’ houses and a motel.
The New School Year, By the Numbers (Education Week, September 1, 2009)As the 2009-10 school year opens, the U.S. Census Bureau offers statistical snapshots of the nation’s school population, based on projections from several data bases.
SAT scores show disparities by race, gender, family income (USA Today, August 25, 2009)Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2009 dropped two points compared with last year, a report out today says. And while the population of test takers was the most diverse ever, average scores vary widely by race and ethnicity.
Black-White Achievement Gap Narrows on NAEP (Education Week, July 16, 2009)American schools have made modest progress in closing the achievement gap between black and white students in math and reading, though that narrowing varies by grade and subject and from state to state, a study shows.
Sketching a path to better education (MEDILL, July 16, 2009)A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that art instruction in American classrooms has stagnated, prompting one official involved in the survey to remark that student achievement in those areas was “mediocre.” The ramifications of those findings could be significant.
Real Life Science and Math Project Launched in Boyle Heights Schools (EGPNews.com, July 9, 2009)STEM-Up is a multi-faceted program that includes instructional materials that are being added to the curriculum at 16 participating elementary schools and two middle schools that feed into Roosevelt High and the soon-to-open Mendez High School. The program also includes interactive community and parent workshops to provide information and tools that can used at home to encourage children to explore and develop skills needed in STEM fields.
Number of Black Male Teachers Belies Their Influence (Washington Post, July 4, 2009)The shortage of black male teachers compounds the difficulties that many African American boys face in school. About half of black male students do not complete high school in four years, statistics show. Black males also tend to score lower on standardized tests, take fewer Advanced Placement courses and are suspended and expelled at higher rates than other groups, officials said.
Talk With Kids, Not At Them (HealthDay, June 29, 2009)If you want to help children develop language and speech skills, UCLA researchers say, listening to what they have to say is just as important as talking to them. The effect of a conversation between a child and an adult is about six times as great as the effect of adult speech input alone, the researchers found. The results of their study appear in the July issue of Pediatrics.
Start Over: Turnarounds should be the first option for low-performing schools (Education Week, June 17, 2009)My top priority as U.S. secretary of education is to make sure our K-12 students are prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. If we can do this, we’ll be able to meet President Barack Obama’s ambitious but reachable goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world...
Preventing High School Dropouts Can Start in 4th Grade (Education Week, June 2, 2009)It's graduation time, but not for everyone. One out of every four students fails to graduate from high school in four years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Risk factors for dropping out include low academic achievement, mental health problems, truancy, poverty and teen pregnancy.
MD Signs Education Standards Initiative (Baltimore Sun, June 2, 2009)Maryland and 45 other states have agreed to develop a common set of academic standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a national shift away from local control over schools that seemed unlikely even a few years ago.
U.S. Effort to Reshape Schools Faces Challenges (New York Times, June 1, 2009)As chief executive of the Chicago public schools, Arne Duncan closed more than a dozen of the city’s worst schools, reopening them with new principals and teachers. People who worked with him, and some who fought him, say those school turnarounds were worth the effort, but all aroused intense opposition.
A Changing Student Body: Report Shows Record Enrollment, More-Diverse Population (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Public school enrollment across the country is hitting a record this year with just less than 50 million students, and classrooms are becoming more diverse, largely because of growth in the Latino population, according to a new federal report.
46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.
Afterschool for All: Tough Times Calls for More Advocacy for Afterschool (Afterschool Alliance, June 1, 2009)In these tough times, it is absolutely vital that we raise our voices for afterschool programs, many of which are threatened by budget cuts and shrinking revenues. I've had the chance to hear from so many of our Afterschool for All program partners who are dealing with the impact of the recession. Just a few weeks ago, a program director in Mississippi called to let me know that her town's only afterschool program is in danger of shutting its doors this summer. Sadly, more than 150 kids will be affected.
Programs Report More Hungry, Homeless Students (Afterschool Alliance, June 1, 2009)Just as children in their communities need more help, afterschool program leaders across the country say they are being forced to increase fees and reduce staffing, activities and hours to cope with budget cuts and rising costs.
Large Districts to Use Stimulus for ELL Support (Education Week, May 20, 2009)At least four large urban school districts plan to spend a significant amount of their federal economic-stimulus money to support or improve programs for English-language learners, a fast-growing group in U.S. schools. The districts—Boston, New York City, St. Paul, Minn., and Seattle—have had varying degrees of success serving such students.
In Search of a Better Teaching Formula (Washington Post, May 16, 2009)To counter the notion that mathematics ability is inscribed in DNA, school officials and corporate executives are waging a public relations campaign for the hearts and minds of the average math student. Their goal is to immerse more middle school students in algebra and toughen high school math requirements so graduates can compete for increasingly technical jobs. Their message: Advanced math is not only for rocket scientists.
Poverty Is Rooted In US Education System, Research Finds (Science Daily, May 5, 2009)Inequalities are rooted in many areas of the U.S. education system, and the current system's relationship with poverty has not improved, according to a Kansas State University researcher.
Math Instruction for English Language Learners (Colorín Colorado , May 1, 2009)
Minorities, mostly Hispanics, flock to suburban schools (USA Today, March 31, 2009)
Obama Seeks To Change Federal Student Loans (NPR, March 30, 2009)
Stimulus Providing Big Funding Boost for Early Childhood (Education Week, March 27, 2009)Advocates for early-childhood education are taking President Obama at his word that the billions of dollars for programs like Head Start included in the recent economic-stimulus package are merely a “down payment” on future expansion.
Multiracial Pupils to Be Counted in A New Way (Washington Post , March 23, 2009)Public schools in the Washington region and elsewhere are abandoning their check-one-box approach to gathering information about race and ethnicity in an effort to develop a more accurate portrait of classrooms transformed by immigration and interracial marriage. Next year, they will begin a separate count of students who are of more than one race.
Charting a Course After High School (Education Week, March 13, 2009)The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act calls for schools to help students develop a plan that will carry them to college or the workplace, but the requirement remains a challenge for families and educators alike.
Turning On to Reading, High School (Washington Post, March 12, 2009)Surrounded by low chalkboards and tiny desks, 6-foot-6-inch, 300-pound Kelson Patterson probably couldn't help appearing larger than life. But from the perspective of fifth-graders at Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring, the Albert Einstein High School varsity football captain didn't need furniture to accomplish that.
Obama Says Public Schools Must Improve (Washington Post , March 11, 2009)President Obama sharply criticized the nation's public schools yesterday, calling for changes that would reward good teachers and replace bad ones, increase spending, and establish uniform academic achievement standards in American education.
Parents Schooled in Learning How to Help With Math (Education Week (Subscription), February 23, 2009)The adults from the Prince William County, Va., district, located in the suburbs of Washington, were taking part in a school-sponsored math workshop for parents—the sort of forum that has become a fixture in districts across the country
A Report's Forgotten Message: Mobilize (Education Week, February 20, 2009)America is once again in crisis mode. We feel the effects of an economy that seems not just in recession, but disintegrating. Settled certainties, assumptions, and expectations are crumbling—causing anxiety, yes, but also opening up opportunities for new directions that were unachievable in more-normal times.
Schools Face Sharp Rise In Homeless Students (Washington Post, February 8, 2009)The economic plunge has generated a growing wave of children nationwide who are sleeping in shelters, motels, spare bedrooms or even the family van as their parents seek to keep them in school. Educators are scrambling to help, with extra tutoring, clothes, food and cab fare.
Improve Education From Day One: Leverage Parents (Education Week (Subscription), January 22, 2009)Barack Obama, who becomes the nation's 44th president this week, is getting plenty of advice on which goals to tackle first in this ugly economy. Most ideas call for urgent action and carry a big price tag.
Screening Students Proves to Be Crucial (Education Week, January 8, 2009)Determining where an English-language learner should be placed at the time of enrollment—and when the student should be moved—is a key part of assuring student success.
Fixing the Freshman Factor (Washington Post, November 4, 2008)As schools push to raise graduation rates, many educators are homing in on ninth grade as a moment of high academic risk. Call it the freshman factor.
Healthier lifestyles lead to better grades (Baltimore Sun, November 3, 2008)Quit smoking. Turn off the computer. Go to bed. It could improve your grades. In the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Minnesota found a clear connection between student health and academic success.
Poll Finds H.S. Parents Want Involvement (Education Week, October 23, 2008)The vast majority of parents believe it is important for them to be involved in their teenagers’ high school educations, a study shows, but parents whose children attend low-performing schools say their schools do little to involve them.
Report: Kids less likely to graduate than parents (Washington Post, October 23, 2008)Your child is less likely to graduate from high school than you were, and most states are doing little to hold schools accountable, according to a study by a children's advocacy group.
Candidates View Parental Role Differently (Education Week, October 14, 2008)Parents play vital roles in their children’s education, John McCain and Barack Obama agree. But the presidential candidates disagree on what a president should do to encourage parents to choose and participate in the educational experiences of their children.
County's Achievement Gap Narrows in Reading and Math (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)The achievement gap separating black and Hispanic students from whites and Asians in performance on statewide tests has narrowed in reading and math at every grade level tested, according to an analysis of results released this week by Montgomery County school officials.
Teachers Become Nurses as Schools Get Squeezed (Washington Post, July 16, 2008)During the past two school years, teacher Julia Keyse had to enforce an unusual rule in her kindergarten and first-grade classroom: No interrupting while she pricked Caylee's finger to check her blood sugar and adjusted her insulin pump.
Jobless Rate for Youths Is Increasing (Washington Post, July 15, 2008)Since Eddie Macias graduated from high school in Chicago on June 17, his summer has stretched in front of him. But he has no job. Macias, 19, has been looking for work on and off for four years, starting after an aneurysm disabled his father. This spring he looked for jobs at malls and banks on foot and via the Internet but had no luck.
Owning His Gay Identity -- at 15 Years Old (Washington Post, July 14, 2008)School's out, and Saro Harvey and his best friend, Samantha Sachs, are hanging out in his Arlington County bedroom. She is slouched across his bed, and he is poised on a chair, posture-perfect, wearing dark, skinny jeans and a ruffled shirt meant for a girl. A rust-orange purse he sometimes carries hangs behind the door.
Pulling the Plug on Reading First (EDNews, July 11, 2008)I wonder if you have seen the various editorials that have been appearing about Reading First recent weeks? These are reactions to the Reading First impact study and Congressional efforts to defund Reading First that I wrote about in this space recently. The Boston Globe came out for reauthorization of Reading First http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/06/16/reading_by_the_numbers/, and today so did USA Today http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/
Teacher's 'extra push' helps troubled teens (Courier-Journal, July 11, 2008)Claude Spillman had graduated from Central High School, despite living apart from his parents, but he was struggling to get into college. Advertisement Then he got help from Louisville educator Margaret Dunbar-Demaree. "Ms. Demaree played the role of a mom away from home," said Spillman, a senior at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. "She was the extra push that helped me."
High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom (New York Times, July 11, 2008)First, Ryan Gibbons bought a Hyundai so he would not have to drive his gas-guzzling Chevy Blazer to college classes here. When fuel prices kept rising, he cut expenses again, eliminating two campus visits a week by enrolling in an online version of one of his courses.
Online 'open textbooks' save students cash (USA Today, July 11, 2008)As textbook prices skyrocket, college students and faculty seeking more affordable options increasingly are turning to "open textbooks" as an alternative. Open textbooks are free textbooks available online that are licensed to allow users to download, customize and print any part of the text. Professors can change content to fit their teaching styles. Some authors offer a print-on-demand service that produces professionally bound copies for $10 to $20.
Calif. Mandates Algebra for All 8th Graders (Education Week, July 10, 2008)California's Board of Education voted Wednesday to require all eighth-graders to be tested in algebra, acting upon a forceful, last-minute recommendation by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
More Educators Experimenting With ‘Open Content’ (Education Week, July 10, 2008)Leaving their textbooks to gather dust, Houston middle school teacher Ardith A. Stewart and her students studied science this spring by assembling much of their curriculum on a class “wiki.” The materials included students’ written postings on class topics and projects, grading rubrics, and discussion questions that Ms. Stewart prepared or obtained from teachers in other parts of Texas and the United States.
Watts: Education Effort Relies on McCain, Obama (Education Week, July 10, 2008)Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain must be willing to challenge their political bases if real change is to come to the nation's schools, a leading advocate for education change said Thursday.
Kindergartners Urged to Learn Key Languages (Education Week, July 9, 2008)The first-graders in Grace Yuan's class are playing "Jeopardy," eagerly responding to clues about animals and their habitats, diet and movements. Sound routine for a group of 7-year-olds? Well, look again. These clues are in Chinese. One girl, a bit uncertain, pondered the Chinese characters and pictures of animals. "Believe in yourself, Rachel," a classmate yelled. Applause rang out when she gave the correct response.
Teacher Technology Standards Unveiled at Ed. Computing Conference (Education Week, July 1, 2008)An overhauled set of standards for how teachers should boost learning through the use of technology was released here yesterday at the nation’s largest K-12 educational technology conference.
Test Results Improve After 'No Child' Law, Study Finds (Washington Post, June 25, 2008)Students are performing better on state reading and math tests since enactment of the landmark No Child Left Behind law six years ago, according to an independent study released yesterday.
Since NCLB Law, Test Scores on Rise (Education Week, June 24, 2008)Student achievement in mathematics and reading has risen on state tests, and the gap between white and minority children has narrowed since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, though gains were stronger in elementary and middle schools than at the high school level, according to a new study.
N. M. School Reaches Students Via Podcast (Washington Post, June 21, 2008)This past semester, nearly every one of the roughly 100 students at Fort Sumner High School was outfitted with the Microsoft media player, similar to Apple's iPod, enabling them to watch videos and listen to recorded lectures created or recommended by teachers and fellow students. It was one of two schools nationwide taking part in the project.
Domestic Spending Intact as House Passes War Bill (Washington Post, June 20, 2008)In a pair of bipartisan votes, the House yesterday approved $162 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan well into 2009 and a separate measure that would allow veterans returning from those battlefields to receive increased education benefits.
SAT writing test called little help (Baltimore Sun, June 20, 2008)The writing section added to the SAT has done very little to improve the exam's overall ability to predict how students will do in college, according to research released yesterday by the test's owner. Critics of the SAT seized on the College Board's findings, which came three years after the revamped, nearly four-hour exam made its debut.
Florida to get $33.6 million for charter schools from feds (US Charter Schools, June 20, 2008)U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon announced last week the award of a $33.6 million grant to Florida to help create more quality public charter schools and increase school choice opportunities. State educational agencies with a specific statue authorizing public charter schools may apply for funding. They then make competitive sub-grants to public charter schools developers. "As laboratories of innovation for the best practices, high quality charter schools are proving that all children - regardless of their socioeconomic status, family background, or where they live - can learn and achieve, said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon. "We must now replicate the most effective models. This is why I'm happy that Florida will use its grant to help create high-quality charter high schools which will assist students in meeting the state's academic standards." More than 350 public charter schools serve more than 100,000 students across the state, and education leaders believe Florida is poised to focus on scaling up high-performing models.
Spike in School’s Pregnancies Leads to Report That Some Resulted From Girls’ Pact (NY Times, June 20, 2008)At least 17 girls at the public high school in the seaside town of Gloucester, Mass., are expecting babies, and a Time magazine report says nearly half became pregnant after making a pact to do so and raise the children together.
2 School Entrepreneurs Lead the Way on Change (NY Times, June 19, 2008)As the founder of Teach for America, a nonprofit program that recruits elite college graduates to teach in low-income schools, Wendy Kopp has presided over many triumphs, and the group’s annual dinner last month was another. It raised $5.5 million in one night and brought so many corporate executives to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York that stretch limousines jammed Park Avenue for blocks.
States eye uniform graduation rate reporting (Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2008)Comparing graduation rates from state to state, or even school to school, can be difficult because all kinds of methods are used to determine them. Federal officials have a solution that could make that process easier -- and more accurate -- within the next five years.
Top students show little gain from 'No Child' efforts (Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2008)Although the nation's lowest-performing students have made great progress in the No Child Left Behind era of testing, the top students are not making similar strides, according to a report by the Fordham Institute. The trend in Maryland mirrors the nation, said Tom Loveless, a Brookings Institution researcher who helped write the report for Fordham.
Report Finds Little Gain From Vouchers (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)Students in the D.C. school voucher program, the first federal initiative to spend taxpayer dollars on private school tuition, generally did no better on reading and math tests after two years than public school peers, a U.S. Education Department report said yesterday.
Obama promises tuition tax credit (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama recalled paying off his own mountain of student loan debt and promised struggling college students Tuesday he would help them pay for school.
Graduates Honored For Drive, Degrees (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)About 100 recent college graduates who attended District public schools were honored last night in a ceremony hosted by D.C. College Access Program, a nonprofit group that supported the students through high school and college. Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell gave the featured address.
School grows before it opens (AJC.com, June 16, 2008)The first state charter school to operate in Gwinnett County is growing before classes begin. The State Board of Education on Thursday approved an amendment to increase the enrollment at Ivy Preparatory Academy, an all-girls school opening in Norcross that will eventually educate students from grades 6 to 12.
More Schools Trying Separation of the Sexes (Washington Post, June 15, 2008)With encouragement from the federal government, single-sex classes that have long been a hallmark of private schools are multiplying in public schools in the Washington area and elsewhere. By next fall, about 500 public schools nationwide will offer single-sex classes, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, based in Montgomery County. That's up from a handful a decade ago. The approach is especially attractive to some struggling schools in the market for low-cost reform
SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS
"Americas Digital Schools 2006"Discovery Education and Pearson Education, 2006
Counting on EducationThe Education Trust, 2008
Helping Your Child Learn ScienceUS Department of Education, 2008
Helping Your Child Learn ScienceUS Department of Education, 2008
Home Visiting for At-Risk Preschoolers: A Successful Model for Latino FamiliesAnnual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, 2008
Recognition & ResponseFPG Child Development Institute, 2009
The Color of Success: Black Student Achievement in Public Charter SchoolsNational Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 2008
The Role of Schools in the English Language Learner Achievement GapPew Hispanic Center, 2008
DELAWARE
Parents hope bishop can save schools (Delaware Online, July 10, 2008)"I'm hoping the new bishop has an open mind to everything," said Steve Burg, former president of the St. Hedwig's Parish Council. "I hope he is willing to sit down with parents and teachers of a school in danger of closing and figure out a way to fix it instead of pulling the plug too quickly and not giving these schools a chance."
Learning a silent language (Delaware Online, July 10, 2008)The silence in Mary Beth Tkach's classroom might stand out among the 50-plus education camps hosted by Delaware Technical & Community College in Stanton this summer. Although there was no noise, there was communication. The 9- to 12-year-olds in this classroom were members of the weeklong American Sign Language camp, and Tkach was sharing her 35-plus years of sign language experience.
Appoquinimink stresses summer reading (Delaware Online, July 10, 2008)The reading list itself is rather broad: three categories, three awards whose recipients are recommended, eight authors whose entire output is suggested and 28 specific titles. Rashbaum said the list reflects well-known books and authors and multiple reading levels. Parents can also choose books that are not on the list.
Teachers try out other careers (Delaware Online, June 21, 2008)Sponsored by the state Department of Education, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and the Delaware Business, Industry, Education Alliance, the externship program placed 53 teachers and four guidance counselors in 31 businesses last week. The objective was to research how well Delaware academic standards and classroom lessons reflect the needs of employers and in many cases alter curriculum to better prepare students for the work force.
Price of School Lunches on Rise (Delaware Online, June 21, 2008)Parents in many school districts statewide can expect to shell out more money next year for their children's lunches, as administrators react to the rising cost of food and related expenses taking a big bite out of cafeteria revenues.
Charter schools: Union on the attack (Delaware Online, June 20, 2008)The state's largest school employee union hired a Washington, D.C., consulting firm to craft a public relations strategy for limiting the expansion of charter schools in Delaware.
Wilmington School Closes (Delaware Online, June 14, 2008)Marianne Fisher fought back tears when she described how she felt about Friday's closing of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School.
Former Professor Tutors Math at Newark High (Delaware Online, June 12, 2008)Willard Baxter has been all over the United States for the sake of education. After retiring from teaching, he has filled his desire to volunteer by offering one-on-one math help at Newark High School.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
First Day of School Abuzz With Change (Washington Post, August 25, 2009)Schools in Prince George's County opened for the first time under the leadership of Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. Charles and Frederick counties also began classes, along with some schools in Anne Arundel County. By week's end, classes will resume throughout Anne Arundel and in Calvert and St. Mary's counties. Schools in Montgomery and Howard counties reopen Aug. 31, and most Northern Virginia schools begin Sept. 8.
46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.
Multiracial Pupils to Be Counted in A New Way (Washington Post , March 23, 2009)Public schools in the Washington region and elsewhere are abandoning their check-one-box approach to gathering information about race and ethnicity in an effort to develop a more accurate portrait of classrooms transformed by immigration and interracial marriage. Next year, they will begin a separate count of students who are of more than one race.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , October 2, 2008)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
In Closed Schools, History Lessons (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)For Nancye Suggs, the call from D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office about nearly two dozen schools she planned to close was bittersweet: Suggs said that she was heartbroken about the loss, in one fell swoop, of so much history but that she was ecstatic Rhee was offering her a chance to retrieve some of it.
A School Where One Size Doesn't Fit All (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)Growing up in Montgomery County, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and getting a law degree from Harvard, Alan M. Shusterman had been called brilliant but didn't feel that great. He got a job in corporate law with a large Boston firm, but that didn't work for him, either.
D.C. Gun Ban Is Out, But Regulations Stay (Washington Post, July 16, 2008)The D.C. Council unanimously approved emergency legislation last night that ends the strictest handgun ban in the country and voted 12 to 1 to approve the transfer of almost $125 million to renovate schools by fall -- two major issues that showed the council's complex relationship with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.
Some D.C. Principals Credit Rhee for Big Gains in Test Scores (Washington Post, July 11, 2008)Principals at some D.C. schools that demonstrated a dramatic increase on this year's student achievement test credit the gains to programs they implemented after a push from Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.
Development Firm Is Picked For Library-School Project (Washington Post, July 11, 2008)The city has picked a developer for a site that includes Janney Elementary School and the former Tenley-Friendship Library, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced yesterday.
D. C. Students See Big Academic Gains (Washington Post, July 10, 2008)D.C. public school students made significant achievement gains during the past academic year, according to preliminary test data released yesterday.
D.C. Libraries Mired in Political Dithering (Washington Post, July 10, 2008)What's happened in the four years since the District shuttered four of its neighborhood libraries, lost another one to a fire and launched an endless debate over whether to renovate or get rid of its main branch downtown?
Broader Youth Involvement Urged (, July 9, 2008)Erica Williams worries about the wave of political involvement among young people this election season. She knows, for example, that college students' participation in Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign -- whether it's knocking on doors or raising money on the Internet -- has been unprecedented.
Board Members Resign to Protest Chair's Ousting (Washington Post, July 5, 2008)The issue that has roiled U.S.-Turkish relations in recent months -- how to characterize the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 -- has set off a dispute over politics and academic freedom at an institute housed at Georgetown University. Several board members of the Institute of Turkish Studies have resigned this summer, protesting the ouster of a board chairman who wrote that scholars should research, rather than avoid, what he characterized as an Armenian genocide.
Rhee Deploys 'Army of Believers' (Washington Post, July 5, 2008)Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's quest to transform D.C. schools will likely rise or fall largely on the shoulders of the Rikki Hunt Taylors she is putting in place. Rhee has just finished filling 45 vacancies in her principal corps, the first full cohort of school leaders
Rhee to Fire 250 Teachers Who Missed Certification Date (Washington Post, July 4, 2008)D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announced yesterday that she plans to fire 250 teachers and 500 teacher's aides who were unable to meet a June 30 deadline to obtain certification.
Rhee Seeks Tenure-Pay Swap for Teachers (Washington Post, July 3, 2008)D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is proposing a contract that would give mid-level teachers who are paid $62,000 yearly the opportunity to earn more than $100,000 -- but they would have to give up seniority and tenure rights, two union members familiar with the negotiations said yesterday.
Lack of Funds Cited For Halting Renovations (Washington Post, July 3, 2008)City officials said yesterday that they will halt renovations of 14 schools slated to receive students from schools that have been closed because the D.C. Council has not approved funds to continue the work.
School Officials Urge Approval Of Funds for Building Repairs (Washington Post, July 1, 2008)School officials have warned the D.C. Council that failure to approve $83 million in building repair contracts at its meeting today could leave thousands of children in severely under-equipped schools or stranded altogether when classes begin Aug. 25.
Robert Rice; Interim Chief Sought Change in Culture of D.C. Schools (Washington Post, June 26, 2008)Robert C. Rice, 69, an interim superintendent of D.C. public schools, past superintendent of Anne Arundel County schools and an executive in the Maryland State Department of Education, died June 21 of complications of lung transplant surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center's intensive care unit in Baltimore. He lived in Arnold.
Council Questions Repair Contracts (Washington Post, June 26, 2008)School construction officials faced sharp questions from D.C. Council members yesterday about their request to issue $83 million in contracts to repair numerous schools, including 13 slated to become pre-K-8 campuses.
Teacher On Leave After Photos Found (Washington Post, June 25, 2008)A third-grade teacher at prestigious Beauvoir elementary school, located on the grounds of Washington National Cathedral, was placed on administrative leave after a camera in the teacher's possession was found containing inappropriate photographs of a young boy, school officials said yesterday.
2 Closed Schools Go to Charter (Washington Post, June 21, 2008)Five recently shuttered D.C. public schools will be leased to various city agencies and two to charter schools, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's office announced yesterday. The seven schools are among 23 that Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee decided this year to close because of low enrollment.
UDC Reaps a Bumper Crop From Agriculture Measure (Washington Post, June 20, 2008)The giant federal farm bill passed by Congress this week will help Iowa corn growers. It will help Kansas wheat barons. It also will help James Allen, who dreams of bringing pigweed to the back yards of Washington, D.C.
Bill Would Give District Control of Charter Board (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced a bill that would give the District of Columbia full oversight over the D.C. Charter School Board.
22 Assistant Principals Are Latest to Be Fired (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee fired 22 assistant principals this week, her second round of school administrative terminations, which came about a month after her dismissal of 24 principals.
An Elementary History Lesson (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)When Janet Wiggins was a student at Loudoun's all-black Banneker Elementary School in the 1950s, she used hand-me-down textbooks from white students. Her school didn't have a library, so she checked out books every couple of weeks from a bookmobile.
District Ill Served When Nominations To Service Academies Go Begging (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Aside from the VIP license plates and the ability to breeze through security checkpoints, one of the great perks of being in Congress is the ability to hand out nominations to elite, tuition-free colleges to some of the highest-achieving high school students in the land.
Report Finds Little Gain From Vouchers (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)Students in the D.C. school voucher program, the first federal initiative to spend taxpayer dollars on private school tuition, generally did no better on reading and math tests after two years than public school peers, a U.S. Education Department report said yesterday.
7 Catholic Schools in D.C. Set to Become Charters (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)The D.C. Public Charter School Board approved a controversial proposal last night to allow seven financially struggling Catholic schools to reopen as secular charters this fall, although the city's plan for funding the schools remains uncertain.
Graduates Honored For Drive, Degrees (Washington Post, June 17, 2008)About 100 recent college graduates who attended District public schools were honored last night in a ceremony hosted by D.C. College Access Program, a nonprofit group that supported the students through high school and college. Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell gave the featured address.
D.C. Alters Youths' Pay Method (Washington Post, June 16, 2008)More than 19,000 young people are set to begin working in the D.C. summer jobs program today, and this time city officials say they've figured out a way to be sure they get paid.
Leaders Chart Progress, Academic Goals (Washington Post, June 13, 2008)D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and education officials marked the first anniversary of his takeover of the city's beleaguered public schools yesterday by listing a series of improvements, mainly in business functions and school facilities, and outlined their goal of improving student achievement in the second year.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , December 31, 1969)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
MARYLAND
New Critiques Urge Changes in Common Standards (Education Week, January 28, 2010)Writing groups convened by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association are at work on what they say will be a leaner, better-organized, and easier-to-understand version than the 200-plus-page set that has been circulating among governors, scholars, education groups, teams of state education officials, and others for review in recent weeks. The first public draft of the standards, which was originally intended for a December release but was postponed until January, is now expected by mid-February.
Alonso plan would give Baltimore middle-school students school choice (Baltimore Sun, January 26, 2010)If the plan survives scrutiny by the public and is approved by the school board in the next couple of months, fifth-graders in elementary schools would be given a choice of where they go to school next fall, rather than being assigned to a neighborhood school. Fifth-graders in schools with kindergarten through eighth grades would also get to move to a charter or new transformation school, but they would be given lower priority than the fifth-graders at an elementary-only school.
Obama announces teacher training initiative (USA Today, January 6, 2010)President Barack Obama announced a $250 million initiative Wednesday to train math and science teachers and help meet his goal of pushing America's students from the middle to the top of the pack in those subjects in the next decade.
More choices for Baltimore 8th-graders (Baltimore Sun, January 3, 2010)Baltimore began upending the structure of its public high schools in 2002, and today's middle-schoolers can pick from nearly four dozen schools across the city rather than being assigned to a comprehensive high school in their neighborhood. Digital, which is in Federal Hill, is the second-most-popular choice among the city's eighth-graders, even though it didn't exist seven years ago. Neither did Coppin Academy in West Baltimore, but it has four times the number of applicants as open places.
Preparing students for a brighter future (Baltimore Sun, January 2, 2010)Martin's class is a pilot project being conducted by Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, a national college-preparatory program for students who are capable of more challenging work but need additional resources to reach their potential. Woodlawn High in Baltimore County is among six schools across the country participating in the AVID Center's African-American Male Initiative, which aims to raise achievement among those students.
Gender Bias Is Alive and Well and Affecting Our Children (PTA.org, January 1, 2010)Many teachers, parents, and students are confused about gender equity in schools. They are not alone. We recently received a call from a young reporter who wanted to speak about our work "in making women superior to men." The reporter viewed gender bias in school as males versus females. We do not. Gender bias short-circuits both boys and girls, and both move forward when gender restrictions are removed.
NASA partnership hosts summer education programs for minority students (The Daily Tell, January 1, 2010)A new partnership led by NASA will pilot a series of multi-week math and science education programs this summer, the space agency announced on Wednesday. The goal of the new NASA initiative, called Summer of Innovation, will be to encourage low-income, minority students to pursue careers in engineering, math or science. NASA will competitively select school districts in up to seven states to pilot the program this summer.
Healthy Habits for TV, Video Games, and the Internet (KidsHealth, January 1, 2010)The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under age 2 have no screen time, and that kids older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.
Mission: Educational Engagement (Journal Sentinel, November 29, 2009)For decades, national studies have linked high parental engagement with higher rates of student achievement and interest in school. Yet attention on home life issues and parental involvement have languished in the field of American education reform. Efforts to improve educational outcomes long have centered on what happens in school - not what happens after the last bell of the day.
Scholars: Parent-School Ties Should Shift in Teen Years (Education Week, November 17, 2009)In a series of studies and a new book, Ms. Hill makes the case that both research and policy initiatives aimed at promoting parent involvement fail to take into account the distinct needs of adolescents, a group of students that seems biologically driven to break free of parental vigilance.
Baltimore School District on Upward Swing (Education Week, October 21, 2009)Two years ago, only 150 students attended Holabird Elementary, then a K-5 school in the southeastern corner of this city. Competition from charters and from regular public schools in nearby Baltimore County had drained families from Holabird, a chronic underperformer.
Camp Out Lures Dads To Get Involved (Education World, October 12, 2009)"The Dad's Club Camp Out is a huge success at our school, and every year parents and students can't wait for it!" says Tina Palutis. "It's a big undertaking and requires a lot of planning, volunteers, and time, but it is the most rewarding activity I think we offer."
"Extreme Read--Warrior Style" Connects Kids, Parents, Teachers Through Books (Education World, October 12, 2009)Teams of "warriors" in sixth through eighth grade at Adams Middle School in Tampa, Florida, read and discuss young adult novels as part of the school's annual "Extreme Read." The experience not only supports the students' literacy skills but gives them the chance to see those around them -- peers, parents, and even the math teacher -- as fellow readers.
Hispanic students aspire to higher education but face barriers (USA Today, October 7, 2009)Nearly nine in 10 Hispanics say it's "necessary" to get a college education to get ahead in life — more than any other ethnic or racial group in the USA. But Hispanic students' plans to get an actual diploma fall well below those of other groups, a survey finds: Fewer than half of Hispanic 18- to 25-year-olds say they plan to get a bachelor's degree, well below the 60% of all young people who say the same.
ESEA Action High Priority, Duncan Says (Education Week , October 5, 2009)U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan signaled last week that the Department of Education is poised to launch reauthorization efforts for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. He used a packed meeting of key stakeholders here to underline his likely priorities and stress his sense of urgency.
Literacy Efforts Over the Long Haul (Education World, October 1, 2009)Involving families in literacy-building activities is a year-long endeavor at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland. When staff members discovered that their students' reading scores weren't improving as hoped, they took action to motivate the students to read and to get parents involved.
Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller Recognizes the Importance of Parents at Maryland School (Ed.gov Blog, September 30, 2009)On September 22, Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller visited Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md., to recognize and celebrate the importance of parental involvement in education. Miller joined representatives from the Montgomery County Public Schools for a tour of classrooms and spoke to more than 300 local parents and children who gathered for the school’s first “Family Learning Night” of the academic year.
N.Y.C. Study Finds Gains for Charters (Education Week, September 30, 2009)New York City’s charter schools are making strides in closing achievement gaps between disadvantaged inner-city students and their better-off suburban counterparts, a new study concludes.
ELL 2.0: How to Make the Most of the Web (Education Week, September 23, 2009)I don’t believe educational technology is a magic bullet for our students. At the same time, I do believe the Internet can be an incredibly beneficial supplement to effective classroom instruction for English-language learners. Consider, for example, the thousands of free Web sites that offer audio and visual supports for written material. That’s a huge asset if you don’t happen to have a one-to-one tutor-to-student ratio (and not many of us do!). The Internet also provides a place for ELL students to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them without fear of public embarrassment.
Survey Reveals Americans Unaware of Long-Term Consequences Preschool Children Face Without Early Literacy Skills (PR Web, September 17, 2009)Ninety-five percent of Americans consider early childhood literacy an important problem, but they do not know that reading to children between the ages of 3-5 has long-term consequences for a child's academic achievement and life-long success, according to a new survey released today.
Obama speech to nation's students divides area parents (Baltimore Sun, September 5, 2009)President Barack Obama's plans to speak directly to the nation's students Tuesday have sparked a dispute among area parents and politicians, with some expressing concerns that the president could use the speech to promote his agenda - and others calling it a valuable classroom lesson.
New rules for schools (Baltimore Sun, September 4, 2009)Maryland and eight other states have set up new accountability systems under No Child Left Behind that have given more flexibility and focus to the efforts to resolve problems at schools that don't meet standards, according to a report released Thursday by the Center on Education Policy.
First Day of School Abuzz With Change (Washington Post, August 25, 2009)Schools in Prince George's County opened for the first time under the leadership of Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. Charles and Frederick counties also began classes, along with some schools in Anne Arundel County. By week's end, classes will resume throughout Anne Arundel and in Calvert and St. Mary's counties. Schools in Montgomery and Howard counties reopen Aug. 31, and most Northern Virginia schools begin Sept. 8.
Schools start on note of thrift (Baltimore Sun, August 24, 2009)As Maryland's public schools reopen for a new year during a time of economic turmoil, some systems are taking tough measures to stem the fiscal bleeding, such as furloughing employees, denying teacher pay raises and increasing class sizes.
Back to school (Maryland Family Magazine, August 3, 2009)Allison Nikirk of White Hall is anticipating a year of changes for her two daughters, who are entering fourth and sixth grades at St. James Academy in Monkton. And with change, she says, comes anxiety. While she says her youngest daughter’s concerns with going back to school center mostly on what she’ll be learning, her oldest daughter is facing the common anxieties associated with starting middle school, such as new friends, new teachers and a new school.
Black-White Achievement Gap Narrows on NAEP (Education Week, July 16, 2009)American schools have made modest progress in closing the achievement gap between black and white students in math and reading, though that narrowing varies by grade and subject and from state to state, a study shows.
Sketching a path to better education (MEDILL, July 16, 2009)A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that art instruction in American classrooms has stagnated, prompting one official involved in the survey to remark that student achievement in those areas was “mediocre.” The ramifications of those findings could be significant.
Real Life Science and Math Project Launched in Boyle Heights Schools (EGPNews.com, July 9, 2009)STEM-Up is a multi-faceted program that includes instructional materials that are being added to the curriculum at 16 participating elementary schools and two middle schools that feed into Roosevelt High and the soon-to-open Mendez High School. The program also includes interactive community and parent workshops to provide information and tools that can used at home to encourage children to explore and develop skills needed in STEM fields.
Latino Liaisons Hit Hard by School Cuts In Pr. George's (Washington Post, July 8, 2009)For two years, Benjamin Santamaria helped Spanish-speaking parents and students at University Park Elementary in Hyattsville navigate the public school system. This school year, those parents and students will be without him.
Talk With Kids, Not At Them (HealthDay, June 29, 2009)If you want to help children develop language and speech skills, UCLA researchers say, listening to what they have to say is just as important as talking to them. The effect of a conversation between a child and an adult is about six times as great as the effect of adult speech input alone, the researchers found. The results of their study appear in the July issue of Pediatrics.
Preventing High School Dropouts Can Start in 4th Grade (Education Week, June 2, 2009)It's graduation time, but not for everyone. One out of every four students fails to graduate from high school in four years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Risk factors for dropping out include low academic achievement, mental health problems, truancy, poverty and teen pregnancy.
MD Signs Education Standards Initiative (Baltimore Sun, June 2, 2009)Maryland and 45 other states have agreed to develop a common set of academic standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a national shift away from local control over schools that seemed unlikely even a few years ago.
U.S. Effort to Reshape Schools Faces Challenges (New York Times, June 1, 2009)As chief executive of the Chicago public schools, Arne Duncan closed more than a dozen of the city’s worst schools, reopening them with new principals and teachers. People who worked with him, and some who fought him, say those school turnarounds were worth the effort, but all aroused intense opposition.
A Changing Student Body: Report Shows Record Enrollment, More-Diverse Population (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Public school enrollment across the country is hitting a record this year with just less than 50 million students, and classrooms are becoming more diverse, largely because of growth in the Latino population, according to a new federal report.
46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.
Afterschool for All: Tough Times Calls for More Advocacy for Afterschool (Afterschool Alliance, June 1, 2009)In these tough times, it is absolutely vital that we raise our voices for afterschool programs, many of which are threatened by budget cuts and shrinking revenues. I've had the chance to hear from so many of our Afterschool for All program partners who are dealing with the impact of the recession. Just a few weeks ago, a program director in Mississippi called to let me know that her town's only afterschool program is in danger of shutting its doors this summer. Sadly, more than 150 kids will be affected.
Programs Report More Hungry, Homeless Students (Afterschool Alliance, June 1, 2009)Just as children in their communities need more help, afterschool program leaders across the country say they are being forced to increase fees and reduce staffing, activities and hours to cope with budget cuts and rising costs.
Fewer Than 1,500 Haven't Passed Md. Tests (Washington Post , May 28, 2009)With less than a month left in the school year, Maryland education officials have about 2,500 fewer reasons to be worried about the fallout from enforcement of the state's new exit exam requirement.
Large Districts to Use Stimulus for ELL Support (Education Week, May 20, 2009)At least four large urban school districts plan to spend a significant amount of their federal economic-stimulus money to support or improve programs for English-language learners, a fast-growing group in U.S. schools. The districts—Boston, New York City, St. Paul, Minn., and Seattle—have had varying degrees of success serving such students.
In Search of a Better Teaching Formula (Washington Post, May 16, 2009)To counter the notion that mathematics ability is inscribed in DNA, school officials and corporate executives are waging a public relations campaign for the hearts and minds of the average math student. Their goal is to immerse more middle school students in algebra and toughen high school math requirements so graduates can compete for increasingly technical jobs. Their message: Advanced math is not only for rocket scientists.
Poverty Is Rooted In US Education System, Research Finds (Science Daily, May 5, 2009)Inequalities are rooted in many areas of the U.S. education system, and the current system's relationship with poverty has not improved, according to a Kansas State University researcher.
Math Instruction for English Language Learners (Colorín Colorado , May 1, 2009)
Minorities, mostly Hispanics, flock to suburban schools (USA Today, March 31, 2009)
Obama Seeks To Change Federal Student Loans (NPR, March 30, 2009)
Pr. George's School Board Shakes Its Freshman Slump (Washington Post, March 29, 2009)It's been a rough few months for the Prince George's County Board of Education. The school system's high-profile superintendent resigned after 2 1/2 years on the job. Board members caught flak over a glitch-prone computer grading and attendance system, a budget that eliminates about 900 jobs and a headquarters purchase that will cost more than advertised. And last week, they voted to close eight schools.
'Virtual reality' learning to debut in Baltimore Co. (Baltimore Sun, March 27, 2009)
Pr. George's Board To Close 8 Schools, Alter Several Others (Washington Post, March 27, 2009)Eight Prince George's County schools, most of them inside the Capital Beltway or in the southern part of the county, will close next year under a revised plan the Board of Education approved last night, saving the school system nearly $6 million in a tight budget year.
Stimulus Providing Big Funding Boost for Early Childhood (Education Week, March 27, 2009)Advocates for early-childhood education are taking President Obama at his word that the billions of dollars for programs like Head Start included in the recent economic-stimulus package are merely a “down payment” on future expansion.
Md. school board rejects illegal immigrant tally (Examiner.com, March 24, 2009)The Maryland State Board of Education has blocked an effort to make Frederick County public school administrators count the number of illegal immigrant students.
Multiracial Pupils to Be Counted in A New Way (Washington Post , March 23, 2009)Public schools in the Washington region and elsewhere are abandoning their check-one-box approach to gathering information about race and ethnicity in an effort to develop a more accurate portrait of classrooms transformed by immigration and interracial marriage. Next year, they will begin a separate count of students who are of more than one race.
Guiding Hands Find New Ways: Amid Tough Economic Times, School Counselors Are Adopting Fresh Ideas for Helping Students (Washington Post, March 23, 2009)They don't just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, counselors are scouring schools for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. In tough economic times, students and families need the guidance more than ever.
Charting a Course After High School (Education Week, March 13, 2009)The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act calls for schools to help students develop a plan that will carry them to college or the workplace, but the requirement remains a challenge for families and educators alike.
Turning On to Reading, High School (Washington Post, March 12, 2009)Surrounded by low chalkboards and tiny desks, 6-foot-6-inch, 300-pound Kelson Patterson probably couldn't help appearing larger than life. But from the perspective of fifth-graders at Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring, the Albert Einstein High School varsity football captain didn't need furniture to accomplish that.
Obama Says Public Schools Must Improve (Washington Post , March 11, 2009)President Obama sharply criticized the nation's public schools yesterday, calling for changes that would reward good teachers and replace bad ones, increase spending, and establish uniform academic achievement standards in American education.
Schools In Calvert Face Major Budget Cuts (Washington Post , March 8, 2009)Fewer teachers, larger classes and cuts in support staff are all likely in Calvert County under the proposed $189.7 million budget for the 2009-10 school year, school official said.
Curriculum Program Relocating To Md. (Washington Post, February 24, 2009)The International Baccalaureate Organization, whose college-preparatory curriculum has expanded exponentially in the Washington area alongside the rival Advanced Placement program, is relocating its U.S. offices from New York to Montgomery County.
Parents Schooled in Learning How to Help With Math (Education Week (Subscription), February 23, 2009)The adults from the Prince William County, Va., district, located in the suburbs of Washington, were taking part in a school-sponsored math workshop for parents—the sort of forum that has become a fixture in districts across the country
Online-Grading Systems Keep Parents Informed (Education Week (Subscription), February 22, 2009)A number of Maryland schools in the D.C. suburbs and beyond are installing online grading systems so students and their parents know exactly what their test scores and grades are almost instantaneously. But parents and school officials acknowledge monitoring the daily e-mails and fluctuations can be addictive and obsessive even as it prevents surprises and offers help for failing students before it's too late.
A Report's Forgotten Message: Mobilize (Education Week, February 20, 2009)America is once again in crisis mode. We feel the effects of an economy that seems not just in recession, but disintegrating. Settled certainties, assumptions, and expectations are crumbling—causing anxiety, yes, but also opening up opportunities for new directions that were unachievable in more-normal times.
Early Launch for Language (Washington Post, February 16, 2009)Can kids learn anything if they are exposed to a subject for only half an hour a week, with no homework? When it comes to learning another language, educators say yes.
Schools Face Sharp Rise In Homeless Students (Washington Post, February 8, 2009)The economic plunge has generated a growing wave of children nationwide who are sleeping in shelters, motels, spare bedrooms or even the family van as their parents seek to keep them in school. Educators are scrambling to help, with extra tutoring, clothes, food and cab fare.
Md. Leads U.S. in Passing Rates on AP Exams (Washington Post, February 5, 2009)For the first time, Maryland ranks top in the nation for the share of high school graduates who passed at least one Advanced Placement test.
Talented, Gifted and Alarmed: Parents of Students in Pr. George's Program Worried About Proposed Move (Washington Post, February 3, 2009)The proposal to move the school's talented-and-gifted program to Robert R. Gray Elementary School in Capitol Heights is only a small part of a sweeping plan to realign school boundaries and close a dozen mostly under-enrolled schools to save $11.9 million in the fiscal year that starts in July. But the case of Glenarden Woods is igniting debate over how much a county with an uneven record of academic achievement values its most successful programs. It also reflects tensions over gifted education that emerge from time to time in many local school systems.
Improve Education From Day One: Leverage Parents (Education Week (Subscription), January 22, 2009)Barack Obama, who becomes the nation's 44th president this week, is getting plenty of advice on which goals to tackle first in this ugly economy. Most ideas call for urgent action and carry a big price tag.
Screening Students Proves to Be Crucial (Education Week, January 8, 2009)Determining where an English-language learner should be placed at the time of enrollment—and when the student should be moved—is a key part of assuring student success.
Battle over immigrant schoolchildren continues (Gazette.net, December 4, 2008)The battle over illegal immigration continues in Frederick County this week, with the latest iteration involving school children who are in the country illegally. At issue is whether or not the Frederick Board of County Commissioners can ask the Frederick Board of Education to count the number of students who cannot document their immigration status.
Many Pr. George's Seniors Failing to Take Exit Exams (Washington Post, December 3, 2008)One of the largest hurdles in the struggle to get more than 2,700 Prince George's County high school seniors to pass graduation exit exams is that many of them aren't even showing up to take the tests required to earn a diploma.
Enrollment Keeps Falling Slightly in Balto. County (Baltimore Sun, November 19, 2008)Enrollment in Baltimore County public schools has continued to decline slightly, but areas of growth - with some schools far exceeding their capacity - remain, according to a new report. This year marks the sixth consecutive time that the school system has had fewer students than the previous year. There are 103,643 students enrolled - down 1,071 from 2007. The district has about 5,100 fewer students than in 2003.
Dropout Rate Down; Graduation Rate Up (The Herald-Mail, November 17, 2008)The dropout rate among students in Washington County Public Schools is at its lowest point ever, according to data recently released by the Maryland State Department of Education. The percentage of students graduating from high school in the county also is the highest it has ever been.
Fixing the Freshman Factor (Washington Post, November 4, 2008)As schools push to raise graduation rates, many educators are homing in on ninth grade as a moment of high academic risk. Call it the freshman factor.
Healthier lifestyles lead to better grades (Baltimore Sun, November 3, 2008)Quit smoking. Turn off the computer. Go to bed. It could improve your grades. In the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Minnesota found a clear connection between student health and academic success.
HSA tests now crucial (Baltimore Sun, November 2, 2008)Before Maryland school officials mandated last week that all students, regardless of grades, pass the High School Assessments or risk not getting a diploma, the tests were without real consequence. Not like the SATs or the ACT, mega tests that determine the college you attend. Students knew that. And that helps explain why, with the new mandate, passage rates in Anne Arundel County for the Class of 2009 increased markedly from the Class of 2008, 16percent to 30 percent on the four required tests.
Audits Obtained by Parents Show More Misspent Funds (Washington Post , October 23, 2008)For a second consecutive year, parent activists are calling attention to a pattern of accounting problems in the use of student funds at some Montgomery County high schools.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , October 2, 2008)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
County's Achievement Gap Narrows in Reading and Math (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)The achievement gap separating black and Hispanic students from whites and Asians in performance on statewide tests has narrowed in reading and math at every grade level tested, according to an analysis of results released this week by Montgomery County school officials.
Charles Workers Meet With Organizers (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)Organizers from a prominent labor union met with a group of Charles County employees this week as part of a fledgling effort to unionize county government workers.
Leaders explain schools' gains (Baltimore Sun, July 17, 2008)Middle school students at the Crossroads School near Fells Point were evaluated by teachers every single day last school year, with the results driving the next day's instruction. At East Baltimore's Fort Worthington Elementary, about a quarter of the school's parents turned out for MSA Family Fun Night and sampled questions from the Maryland School Assessments.
Case Goes to Jury in Ex-Schools Chief's Retrial (Washington Post, July 16, 2008)The witness list was virtually unchanged. The judge and lawyers were the same. So, too, was much of the evidence, as former Prince George's County schools chief Andre J. Hornsby, whose last trial ended in a hung jury, was tried again on public corruption charges.
Md. Scores In Reading, Math Show Big Strides (Washington Post, July 15, 2008)Maryland's march toward the goal of having all students reach grade level in reading and math gained momentum today with the release of test scores that show surprisingly strong gains in those subjects, especially among disadvantaged students.
Test scores rise (Baltimore Sun, July 15, 2008)Statewide test scores for African-American and low-income children rose significantly this year and are moving closer to parity with other students, according to data released today by state education officials.
New academic chief apt to set high standard (Baltimore Sun, July 15, 2008)Patricia E. Abernethy, the newest chief academic officer for Baltimore County public schools, is described as a champion for children and an educator with an exceptional understanding of what it takes to boost academic achievement.
Group Protests School Transfer Policy (Washington Post, July 12, 2008)A new parent group in Calvert County is protesting a policy that allows children to attend elementary schools close to their day-care centers, an arrangement that the group says unfairly lets some families place their children in the county's best schools.
Concerns About Site Could Hold Up Hyattsville School Project (Washington Post, July 10, 2008)The opening of a Hyattsville elementary school could be pushed back if school officials act on a slew of concerns about the location, including the dangers of having students walk to school. "The route to school should be as safe as the school itself," said Hyattsville City Council member Mark Matulef (Ward 2) during a June 19 public hearing.
Tougher integrity policy OK'd (Baltimore Sun, July 10, 2008)The Anne Arundel County Board of Education passed a stronger integrity policy yesterday that reflects a need to "promote vigor and achievement" in schools, one year after a cheating scandal jolted Severna Park High School.
Two named to school board (Baltimore Sun, July 10, 2008)A PTA parent and a retired educator from Bel Air were appointed to five-year terms on the Harford County Board of Education yesterday by Gov. Martin O'Malley. Alysson L. Krchnavy and Leonard Wheeler were named to the seven-member board in a county embroiled in a debate over whether the school board should be elected or appointed.
Home-schooled kids left out of Subway contest (Baltimore Sun, July 7, 2008)Children darted across the grass carrying small balloons and then plopped to the ground trying to pop them. The relay runners came back and slapped the hands of the next children, as the games progressed for the springtime ritual known as Field Day.
Using books to fill the gap (Baltimore Sun, July 7, 2008)Axxam and Mustafa Sassy are headed to Germany and Egypt on vacation this month with a bag full of books. The two middle schoolers received 34 of them at a summer book fair at their school, Arundel Middle.
Teacher pay set by the results (Baltimore Sun, July 6, 2008)From rural Washington County to suburban Prince George's County, school systems around the state are beginning to wade into a promising but controversial topic in education: pay for performance. School officials are starting to offer teachers and principals extra pay or bonuses when they take on challenging assignments or raise test scores.
Italian American Groups Speak Up to Save AP Language Test (Washington Post, July 3, 2008)For those who teach Italian in U.S. schools, the advent of an Advanced Placement course in Italian language and culture three years ago was an epochal event, securing a future for the subject alongside Spanish and French and staving off competition from fast-growing programs in Japanese and Chinese.
Conversion Plan Would Meet Demand for Specialty Schools (Washington Post, July 3, 2008)The Prince George's County Board of Education endorsed a plan last week to convert five underenrolled schools into specialized academies to create more space for its popular language immersion and Montessori programs.
Teacher Bonuses Get Teachers' Blessings (Washington Post, June 25, 2008)One of the most ambitious pay-for-performance initiatives in Washington area schools is drawing strong teacher interest and local union support even though many national labor leaders have long asserted that it is unfair to link teachers' paychecks directly to their students' test scores.
Experts Urge Longer Day to Raise Scores (Washington Post, June 25, 2008)To improve middle schools, a Maryland education panel proposed yesterday giving students more class time, ensuring they are ready to complete algebra by eighth grade and enrolling them in a foreign language course by sixth grade.
6 Montgomery High Schools Ranked Among Top 100 in U.S. (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Montgomery County high schools turned in their strongest showing yet on the 2008 Challenge Index, the best-known ranking of U.S. high schools.
Officials in tug of war on school nurses (Baltimore Sun, June 19, 2008)County officials tangled this week over a venerable institution: the school nurse program. Members of the County Council and the school board argued about the prospect of the health department taking over the program from the school system, and how best to serve the health interests of students.
City PTA council is shut down (Baltimore Sun, June 19, 2008)The Maryland PTA has stripped the Baltimore City Council of PTAs of its authority to operate, amid concerns that the group's president is using his post as a platform to express personal criticism of city schools chief Andres Alonso.
Hornsby retrial begins (Baltimore Sun, June 19, 2008)The courtroom was filled with familiar faces. The judge, the two prosecutors, the defense attorney and the defendant - all had faced each other before. The only thing different was the jury.
Top students show little gain from 'No Child' efforts (Baltimore Sun, June 18, 2008)Although the nation's lowest-performing students have made great progress in the No Child Left Behind era of testing, the top students are not making similar strides, according to a report by the Fordham Institute. The trend in Maryland mirrors the nation, said Tom Loveless, a Brookings Institution researcher who helped write the report for Fordham.
Educators relish a year of fewer headlines, more progress (Baltimore Sun, June 15, 2008)Three teachers were arrested during a two-month period starting in January for sexual abuse related to charges involving minors. A fourth teacher was arrested for having cocaine in his car, which was parked in a school parking lot.
O'Malley reappoints Arundel school board president, names two more to panel (Baltimore Sun, December 31, 1969)Incumbent President Tricia Johnson of Davidsonville is seeking a second five-year term in the at-large seat, and Teresa Birge of Seven Oaks, who intends to represent the newly created District 32 seat in West County, must go up for a retention vote in November, which means there will be no other names on the ballot. Collin Wojciechowski, a rising senior at Chesapeake High School, will serve one year as the student member.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , December 31, 1969)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
PENNSYLVANIA
Student Gains in Privately Managed Philadelphia Schools - Nearly Double Those in District Schools (EDNews, July 11, 2008)School test scores recently released by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment reveal that schools partnering with private education management organizations (EMO’s) – including EdisonLearning - showed greater gains in student achievement than the schools operated by the Philadelphia School District.
PA Support for School Jumps (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 8, 2008)Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburban school districts will share $82.6 million in new basic education funding next school year under the state budget signed Friday by Gov. Rendell.
Rutgers program brightens youths' futures (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 7, 2008)When Bradley Soto, now 12, moved to Camden from Puerto Rico about four years ago, he found it hard. "One time, he started crying," said his mother, Migdalia Gonzalez, a school paraprofessional. "He said, 'I can't live here because I don't know English.' "
Phila. students must enroll at age 6 (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 5, 2008)Philadelphia students will be required to start school at a younger age under legislation passed yesterday as part of the state budget. The compulsory school age in the Philadelphia School District will drop from 8 to 6 under the legislation.
Rent by charter school probed (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 4, 2008)The Philadelphia Academy Charter School has been paying nearly $67,000 a month in rent to an independent nonprofit that is now a focus of an expanding federal criminal investigation, according to records and interviews.
Phila. School District lays off 200 (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 2008)Call it Arlene Ackerman's opening salvo. More than 200 Philadelphia School District staffers received layoff notices this week, a move the new schools chief hopes will begin to de-centralize the district and move resources into classrooms. The employees were all academic coaches, mostly veteran educators who supported teachers in a variety of roles, from technology to mentoring new teachers.
Phila. school test scores up for sixth straight year (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 2008)Philadelphia public schools' test scores are up for a record sixth year in a row - but more than half of all students are still performing below grade level in math and reading. Touting city children's progress, school district officials yesterday released Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results. Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the exam in reading and math annually.
Phila. school test scores up for sixth straight year (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 2008)Philadelphia public schools' test scores are up for a record sixth year in a row - but more than half of all students are still performing below grade level in math and reading. Touting city children's progress, school district officials yesterday released Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results. Students in third through eighth grade, plus 11th graders, take the exam in reading and math annually.
Phila. taking back 6 privatized schools (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 2008)In a blow to the Philadelphia School District's historic privatization experiment, the School Reform Commission voted yesterday to seize six schools from outside managers and warned them that they are in danger of losing 20 others if progress is not made. "Hard decisions have to be made," said Arlene Ackerman, the district's chief executive. "Adults must be held accountable."
SRC agrees to renew Philadelphia Academy Charter School (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 2008)Philadelphia Academy Charter School will remain open, but with an unprecedented level of scrutiny from the Philadelphia School District. The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted unanimously yesterday to give the popular Northeast school a new, five-year operating charter starting Sept. 1, provided the school agrees to meet a list of 20 conditions.
Warminster teacher on trial over threats (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 2008)Three years ago, Susan Romanyszyn was a finalist for a prestigious national math teaching award, a woman praised for her creative skills in the classroom. Today, she is on trial in Bucks County Court, accused of dashing that reputation with a barrage of harrowing threats planted anonymously in the Warminster elementary school where she taught fourth grade.
Mount Airy charter school's officials upbeat after hearing (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2008)At a Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing yesterday, district officials detailed the financial, management and academic problems that they said warranted the closing of Renaissance Charter School in Mount Airy.
At-risk Phila. students graduate (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2008)Drugs got Lawrence Shorts kicked out of high school. For Danny Garcia, the glitz of a promising career as a boxer caused him to drop out. Anya Patterson had a baby. Ashton Butts had to support himself.
VIRGINIA
A Changing Student Body: Report Shows Record Enrollment, More-Diverse Population (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Public school enrollment across the country is hitting a record this year with just less than 50 million students, and classrooms are becoming more diverse, largely because of growth in the Latino population, according to a new federal report.
46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards (Washington Post, June 1, 2009)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in American schools.
Multiracial Pupils to Be Counted in A New Way (Washington Post , March 23, 2009)Public schools in the Washington region and elsewhere are abandoning their check-one-box approach to gathering information about race and ethnicity in an effort to develop a more accurate portrait of classrooms transformed by immigration and interracial marriage. Next year, they will begin a separate count of students who are of more than one race.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , October 2, 2008)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
Student Reaches for the Sun and Succeeds (Washington Post, July 17, 2008)Even with an overcast sky, the solar panels on the roof of George Mason High School in Falls Church were absorbing enough sun on a recent morning to power the air conditioner in a classroom.
Owning His Gay Identity -- at 15 Years Old (Washington Post, July 14, 2008)School's out, and Saro Harvey and his best friend, Samantha Sachs, are hanging out in his Arlington County bedroom. She is slouched across his bed, and he is poised on a chair, posture-perfect, wearing dark, skinny jeans and a ruffled shirt meant for a girl. A rust-orange purse he sometimes carries hangs behind the door.
At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality (Washington Post, July 7, 2008)Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy.
Rules Are Rules, Even for Test Graders (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Every time Elly Kluge's friends and colleagues ask what happened last week at the Advanced Placement European history test grading session in Colorado, the 67-year-old Arlington County history teacher says: "I was sent home early because I am a terrorist."
Board Ponders Purchase of Merrifield Office Building (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Fairfax County school officials are proposing to spend $52 million to buy a 275,000-square-foot office building in the Merrifield area to continue consolidating the headquarters of the region's largest school system.
Parent Questions Motives Behind Push for Diversity (Washington Post, June 19, 2008)Regarding your May 22 column ["Wealth's a Poor Way to Grade a School"], the idea that "diversity" is inherently beneficial is itself racist. People can benefit from interaction with all kinds of people, and all kinds of people can be detrimental.
Islamic Academy Protested (Washington Post, June 18, 2008)More than a dozen people protested yesterday outside a private Islamic school in Fairfax County that critics say promotes religious intolerance and violence against people of other faiths.
Reaping the Rewards Of Solid SAT Study (Washington Post, December 31, 1969)Amy Weiler, an assistant principal at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, has noticed a reassuring statistic when she evaluates the impact of SAT classes and workshops at her school. Average scores have risen, by fairly large margins, among a certain group of students, she said. The average score among "actively involved" SAT review students at Hylton has climbed to 1750, well above the Prince William County average of 1486.
Needy Students Closing Test Gap Under 'No Child' (Washington Post , December 31, 1969)Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.
WEST VIRGINIA
Preliminary Survey Results Show Most Teachers Like Their Schools (West Virginia Department of Education, July 10, 2008)Nearly 8,000 West Virginia teachers say their school is a safe, good place to work and learn. The response was one that nearly half of all West Virginia educators made as part of West Virginia’s Vision for Improving Teaching and Learning (WV VITAL) project.
About 100 Educators to Become Technology Specialists (West Virginia Department of Education, July 10, 2008)Some 100 West Virginia educators have started a 40-day journey to become technology integration specialists as part of the West Virginia Department of Education’s effort to incorporate 21st century skills into the classroom.
W.Va. Receives Grant to Improve Teaching and Learning (West Virginia Department of Education, July 10, 2008)The West Virginia Department of Education has received a $45,000 national grant from the Knowledge Works Foundation to develop initiatives that transform teaching and learning.
