EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

Bush Selects Houston's Paige As Education Secretary
Education Week, December 29, 2000

President-elect Bush has chosen Rod Paige, the Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, as his Secretary of Education.

Federal Study Cites Barriers to Web Learning
Education Week, December 20, 2000

A study by the Web-Based Education Commission cites the following barriers to using the Internet as a teaching tool: providing widespread, affordable access to broadband communications, which allows 2-way transmission of digital video; better training for educators and school administrators; and more high-quality, online educational resources.

Bush Likely to Drop Vouchers
The Washington Post, January 2, 2001

The incoming Bush Administration has decided to drop its private school voucher plan and to focus instead on two other key education goals: regular testing of students and increased education flexibility for states.

The Testing Times Continue for America's Schools
The Christian Science Monitor, January 2, 2001

The key education policy issues for this upcoming year are standardized tests, school choice, and funding.

Blacks Battle Achievement Gap
The Washington Post, December 31, 2000

Many middle-class African American parents around the country are organizing groups to examine the possible causes of the achievement gap between black students and white students.

(See: The Black-White Test Score Gap, Brookings Institution, 1998)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

A Fresh Start for Board of Education Hybrid
The Washington Post, January 2, 2001

Four years after the D.C. Board of Education was stripped of most of its authority, the restructured panel will reclaim oversight of the city's public schools when it takes office on January 2, 2001.

VIRGINIA

Growing Their Own
Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 2, 2001

According to the Department of Labor, 40 percent of the country's 93,200 principals are at or nearing retirement age and will be leaving schools in droves in the next five years. While there is currently no principal shortage in Virginia, many local school officials are bracing themselves for the eventuality. Officials project that, by 2005, half of Fairfax County's principals will leave - 103 out of 202 schools. Fifty percent of Henrico and Richmond's principals will also be eligible to retire. Chesterfield also expects vacancies, and in Hanover, a quarter of its principals could leave.

PUBLICATIONS

Accountability in Action:
A Blueprint for Learning Organizations
By Douglas B. Reeves, Ph.D.
Center for Performance Assessment, 2000
ISBN 0-9644955-3-8

A practical step-by-step guide to creating a comprehensive accountability system.


Building a Full-Service School: A Step-By-Step Guide
By Carol Calfee, Frank Wittner and Mimi Meredith
Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998
ISBN 0-7879-4058-5

A practical and comprehensive guide to establishing school-based community health and social support services-such as psychological counseling and drug prevention.

The Power of the Internet for Learning:
Moving from Promise to Practice
Web-Based Education Commission, 2000

This research report describes the current barriers to using the Internet as an effective teaching tool.

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