EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

Gap Between Best and Worst
Widens on U.S. Reading Test
The New York Times, April 7, 2001

The results of the fourth-grade tests on the National Assessment of Educational Progress show a widening gap between the highest achieving students and the lowest achieving student . (See also: Report: Gap in Students' Math, Reading Skills Grows, The Baltimore Sun, April 9, 2001.)

Senate, White House Approve Voucher Plan
The New York Times, April 6, 2001

Senate and White House negotiators have drafted a compromise education proposal that preserves features of President Bush's school voucher proposal without giving public money directly to private schools. (See also: Deal Advances Education Bill, The New York Times, April 5, 2001; Bill to Allow Tutoring Vouchers Advances, The Los Angeles Times/Reuters, April 7, 2001.)

Should Dubya Get a Failing
Grade Over School Reform?
Time Magazine, April 6, 2001

President Bush's school reform plan is slowly being dismantled by Congress, without much of an attempt by the White House to restore it.

Psychology Professor's Goal:
Making Intelligence Tests Smarter
The New York Times, April 3, 2001

Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies and Expertise (PACE) at Yale University, is critical of I.Q. tests, SAT's, Graduate Record Exams and other conventional assessment measures. In contrast to Howard Gardner's theory of seven different intelligences, Sternberg identifies a trio of mental abilities: analytical intelligence (the type measured by I.Q. tests), creative intelligence and practical intelligence.

Teacher Tests Criticized As Single Gauge
Education Week, April 4, 2001

A report released last week by the National Research Council argues that teacher-licensure exams should never be used as the sole measure of an aspiring teacher's abilities.

The Smart Money
The Washington Post, April 10, 2001

An increasing number of school districts are using financial bonuses to lure good teachers.

A Campus for Every Mind
The Washington Post, April 10, 2001

According to a 1999 U.S. Department of Education survey, a higher percentage of high school students than ever -- more than 63 percent -- is now going off to college, including 59 percent of blacks and 42 percent of Latinos.

Moving Targets
Education Week, April 4, 2001

Research shows that children who move and change schools frequently tend to suffer in academic performance.

State-Financed Preschools Seen Yielding Gains
The Washington Post, April 4, 2001

Walter S. Gilliam and Edward F. Zigler, both researchers from the Yale University Child Study Center, reviewed evaluations from 12 states and the District of Columbia and found that, in general, prekindergarten and other preschool programs paid for by states had improved children's readiness for school.

Sharing the Movement
Rethinking Schools, Spring 2001

This article profiles Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past: History, Organizing & Power), a Boston-based program that teaches high school students about the Civil Rights movement by taking them on travels through the deep south.

Test Results From States Reveal Gaps in Learning
The New York Times, April 9, 2001

An analysis of scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, found that only two states, Georgia and Massachusetts, reduced the gap between white students and black or Hispanic students in fourth-grade math. No state did so in eighth grade, leaving gaps as wide as 56 points in Washington, D.C., and 35 points in New Jersey. In reading, only Delaware reduced that same gap.

Charter School Operator Reports Gains on Tests
Education Week, April 4, 2001

Students in 14 charter schools run by Advantage, a Boston-based company, showed a combined average 9.1 point gain in national percentile rank from fall to spring on two tests, the Stanford Achievement Test-9th Edition and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised.

Schools Urged to Stop Using Indian Names
The New York Times, April 6, 2001

In a letter to the presidents of boards of education and school superintendents, the New York State Education Commissioner, Richard P. Mills, expressed that Indian mascots and symbols "can make the school environment seem less safe and supportive to some children, and may send an inappropriate message to children about what is or is not respectful behavior toward others."

DELAWARE

The History of School Reform in Delaware
Delaware Department of Education, 2001

A timeline of school reform measures instituted by the Delaware Department of Education.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

To Each Its Own
The Washington Post, April 8, 2001

The District of Columbia now has 33 charter schools serving approximately 10,000 students -- almost 15 percent of the children in the public schools. Five of the schools are profiled in this article.

Vance Vows To Eliminate School Abuse
The Washington Post, April 8, 2001

More than 50 Latino, African American and Asian parents met with D.C. School Superintendent Paul L. Vance on April 7th to discuss allegations that students at a Northwest elementary school had been physically and verbally abused. The group also expressed concerns about the District's failure to meet the needs of special education students, the poor condition of equipment and school buildings and the lack of bilingual teachers and programs.

MARYLAND

Higher Expectations, Tougher Consequences
The Washington Post, April 6, 2001

Montgomery County's new Peer Assistance and Review program is designed to give new teachers and struggling veterans the help they need to become successful, but those who do not improve in the program stand to lose their jobs.

Maryland House Passes Gun Education
The Washington Post, April 6, 2001

Maryland's House of Delegates passed a bill on April 5th require public schools to teach gun safety.

Schools Scramble to Recruit Teachers
The Baltimore Sun, April 9, 2001

Maryland is experiencing a severe teacher shortage that will become even more grave in the next few years as schools cut class sizes, cope with climbing enrollments and see thousands of instructors reach retirement age

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia Charter School Finds Mentor
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 2001

The newly-approved High Tech High Philadelphia Charter School will be part of a national network of technology-focused high schools supported and endorsed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Foundation of Charters Gets Review
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 4, 2001

Citing a list of problems ranging from funding to accountability, members of the Pennsylvania State Senate Education Committee said yesterday that the law establishing Pennsylvania's burgeoning charter-school movement must be reviewed and changed.

In Philadelphia Schools, Evaluating Academic Ability
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 9, 2001

The Philadelphia School District is rethinking a long-standing practice at some high schools that sorts students into classes based on their perceived academic ability.

Charter School Gets a One-year Extension
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 2001

Philadelphia's Board of Education yesterday gave World Communications Charter School, which had been considered for closure due to poor standardized test scores, a year to improve its performance and long-term outlook.

VIRGINIA

Fairfax Fears Schools Slackening
The Washington Post, April 8, 2001

Fairfax County Public Schools is facing new and difficult challenges, including dramatic increases in: (1) the number of children from low-income or impoverished homes, (2) the number of students not fluent in English, and (3) the number of special education students.

Virginia Math Profile Stronger in 1990s
Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 10, 2001

According to a seven-year study comparing the fourth and eighth-grade math scores in 32 states and the fourth-grade reading scores of 36 states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Virginia is one of only two states that reduced the achievement gaps between top and low-performing public school students in math during the 1990s.

POLICY STUDIES & REPORTS

Changing the Profession
Hoover Institution, 2001
( This article discusses how the school choice movement could change the teaching profession)

The Tax Cut Debate and Why It Matters
Center for Community Change, March 30, 2001

Is Education the Administration's
Top Budget Priority?
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 3, 2001

Bush Budget and Minorites: Leaving Many Behind
Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus and DPC, 2001

WEBSITES & LINKS

Center for Community Change
(www.communitychange.org)

An organization committed to reducing poverty and rebuilding low income communities.

Center for Research on Education,
Diversity & Excellence (CREDE)
(www.cal.org/crede/)

One of three National Research and Development Centers funded through the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students.

Child Trends
(www.childtrends.org/schoolreadiness.asp)

A nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies children, youth, and families through research, data collection, and data analysis

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
(www.chci.org )

A private, non-partisan, non-profit organization established in 1978 by Hispanic members of Congress in to serve as an educational institute for the national Hispanic community.

Hoover Institution's K-12 Initiative
(www-hoover.stanford.edu/research/k-12initiative/
k-12initiative.html)

A research project of Stanford University's Hoover Institution on War, Revolution on Peace that focuses on K-12 educational policy issues.

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