EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

NATIONAL

Why Johnny Can't Read, Write, Multiply or Divide
The New York Times, April 15, 2001

From the article: "Most of the 28 states that now have graduation exams actually give them to students in the 10th grade. They do so for fear of lawsuits, since the courts have ruled in several cases that students must be given several chances to pass the test. This means that tests assessing a "high school education" really measure a 10th-grade education. And since the states set fairly low bars for passing, that level more accurately reflects what an eighth grader should have learned."

Education Boss Wants Texas-Style Reading
The Baltimore Sun, April 11, 2001

Secretary of Educaton Rod Paige says he wants federal grants to improve reading going toward "scientifically based programs, not fads." Although he declines to endorse any single instructional program, the research he cites supports initial direct instruction in systematic phonics, as opposed to literature-oriented approaches.

Opinion: Bush Could Dumb-Down Tests
The Baltimore Sun, April 6, 2001

Thomas Toch, a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, warns that the Bush testing plan could be a disaster for students and advocates of accountability alike if states end up using tests on reading and math that don't measure students' performance against fixed standards of learning, but rather against national student averages -- which may represent a low level of knowledge. (See also: Bush’s Education Problem: Why Achievement Tests Won’t Work, The National Review, April 2, 2001)

Opinion: 'F' for School Reform
The Washington Post, April 11, 2001

According to the author, the results of year 2000 NAEP tests for fourth-grade reading confirmed the long-standing trend of a nation divided along meritocratic class lines, where the highest class is composed disproportionately of whites and Asian Americans, and the lowest class is composed disproportionately of African Americans and Latinos.

Opinion: Closing the Nation's Reading Gap
The Boston Globe, April 12, 2001

Joan Fitzgerald, an associate professor of education at Northeastern University, advocates spending more money on parental reading programs to help improve student reading.

The End of School Reform
Education Week, April 4, 2001

The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation is about to stop giving grants to support school reform because it has come to the reluctant conclusion that large-scale school reform might not work.

(See also: Can Schools Really Change?, Education Week, February 7, 2001.)

A Quiet Crisis: Unprepared For High Stakes
Education Week, April 18, 2001

The push to hold high school students to more rigorous academic standards reveals that a large proportion of students who are already in high school are not yet doing high-school-level work.

Bush Budget Would Slash
School Technology Funding
eSchool News, April 17, 2001

The Fiscal Year 2002 budget proposal that President George W. Bush sent to Congress April 9 consolidates nine education technology programs into a single block grant, funded at $817 million, as compared with $872 in Fiscal 2001.

Edison Schools Gains Business
New York Times, April 17, 2001

Edison Schools, the nation's largest private operator of public schools, has signed contracts with eight Midwestern school districts for summer programs and its first Detroit charter school has renewed its agreement.

Educators Try to Establish Anti-Bully Policies
USA Today, April 17, 2001

Administrators with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (CA) are planning to institute what some officials are calling the toughest anti-bullying policy in the nation. The policy calls for punishment as severe as expulsion if a child is caught taunting, teasing, even glaring at a classmate in a threatening manner.

As Principals' Ranks Thin,
Group Plans to Train More
The New York Times, April 15, 2001

New Leaders for New Schools, a non-profit based in New York City, will recruit and train teachers and leaders from the private sector with previous teaching experience to work in public schools in New York and Chicago over the next 10 years.

How Much for That Student?
Time Magazine, April 17, 2001

Educators fear that money awarded to high achievers will ultimately reduce funds that might have gone to needier students who, while academically qualified for top colleges, are less likely to have the highest SAT scores or class rank.

The Shame of San Francisco
Salon Magazine, March 29, 2001

The author of this feature-length article argues that the attempt to close a for-profit Edison school in San Francisco not so much about Edison's achievements as it is an ideological crusade to keep public education public, free, and available to all children.

School Teams Urged to Drop Indian Names
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 14, 2001

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted 4-2 in favor of a statement urging non-Indian schools --- including elementary, secondary and collegiate --- to drop the use of Indian images and team names.

Bandwidth Constraints Begin to Worry Schools
The New York Times, April 11, 2001

Those who are responsible for setting up and maintaining schools' Internet connections say that as more teachers embrace technology in the classroom, schools are reaching the limits of what their network infrastructure can handle.

Tax Credit OK'd for Voucher Plan
The Florida Times-Union, April 13, 2001

The Florida Senate approved giving $50 million in tax credits to companies that help send low-income children to private schools. The plan, which is similar to a bill that has passed the House, could shift thousands of students from public to private schools.

MARYLAND

Girls Focus on Science
The Baltimore Sun, April 17, 2001

Administrators at Garrison Forest, a private girls school in Owings Mills, Maryland, are working with the Living Classrooms Foundation on a study to track the interest and achievement of girls in math and science through the middle grades.

PENNSYLVANIA

Evans Talks Charters With the President
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 2001

In a meeting last week, State Representative Dwight Evans urged President Bush to use schools in Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania as laboratories to test education-reform policies.

WASHINGTON, D.C. METRO AREA

Schools Scramble for Substitutes
The Washington Post, April 12, 2001

Due to a staffing shortage, school districts have dropped their once-stringent requirements for substitute teachers. Now, most hire substitutes without teaching certificates or even college degrees -- and with little or no classroom experience.

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

Ahead of the Class A Design Handbook for Preparing New Teachers from New Sources
Urban Institute, February 2001

Tactics for Bridging The Digital Divide
The Washington Post, April 16, 2001

This article provides tips on teaching technology to children.

Jack & the Giant School
The New Rules Journal, Summer 2000

This report explores the momentum surrounding small urban schools, as well as the uncertain future of small rural schools.

Measuring What Matters: Using Assessment and Accountability to Improve Student Learning (pdf file)
Committee for Economic Development,
December 15, 2000

WEBSITES & LINKS

Committee for Economic Development (www.ced.org)

An independent, nonpartisan organization of business and education leaders dedicated to policy research on major economic and social issues.

Living Classrooms Foundation
(www.livingclassrooms.org)

A nonprofit organization that providing hands-on education and job training in a maritime setting, with a special emphasis on at-risk youth and groups from diverse backgrounds.

Urban Institute (www.urban.org)

A nonprofit policy research organization whose goals are to "sharpen thinking about society's problems and efforts to solve them, improve government decisions and their implementation, and increase citizens' awareness about important public choices."

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