EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

State Tests Are Becoming a Graduation Hurdle
The Washington Post, January 30, 2001

The certainty that many students who passed their courses will not graduate is ignored because no one has a grip yet on the muddled politics of raising standards.  ( See also: Test Debate: What Counts As Multiple? Education Week, January 10, 2001.)

AERA Position Statement Concerning
High-Stakes Testing in PreK-12 Education
AERA, January 22, 2001

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is urging policymakers to reconsider their support for high-stakes tests and to slow their push to implement them.

MARYLAND

Case for Smaller Classes
The Baltimore Sun, February 3, 2001

Although the movement for smaller class sizes has taken hold in Maryland, some critics argue that benefits are not worth the cost.

Editorial: Schoolwatch in Prince George's
The Washington Post, February 4, 2001

A total of 15 Prince George's County schools are currently on state probation. At a recent legislative hearing, Superintendent Iris Metts pleaded with lawmakers not to turn the county's Management Oversight Panel into a control board, arguing that a new layer of oversight won't help at this point.

VIRGINIA

2 Years, 3 Charter Schools:
Some Divisions Calling It Quits
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 5, 2001

In the two and a half years since state law has allowed charter schools, only one - Victory Academy in Gloucester County - has opened. Two others are scheduled to open this fall, in Roanoke and in Hampton. In a round of voting that ended about three weeks ago, eighty school divisions decided to continue accepting applications for charter schools, while fifty-two chose not to.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DC Voice, funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation, is a collaborative of teachers, parents and community members committed to ensuring every child in Washington, DC a high quality public education.

ARTICLES & REPORTS

The Authentic Standards Movement and Its Evil Twin
Kappan Professional Journal, January 2001.

Scott Thompson, assistant director of the Panasonic Foundation, argues that true standards-based reform is being hobbled by its evil twin—high-stakes, test-based reform -- and that questions of educational equity and instructional value are at stake.

No Child Left Behind, President Bush's Education Plan
U.S. Department of Education, January 2001

How Teaching Matters: Bringing the Classroom
Back Into Discussions of Teacher Quality
Educational Testing Service, October 2000

WEBSITES & LINKS

The following are links to webpages on teacher quality at the named sites:

U.S. Department of Education

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

National Education Association (NEA)

National Commission on Teaching and America's Future

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For newsletters from previous weeks, visit the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium's News Archives page.