EDUCATION & EQUITY NEWS    

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House Advances Education Overhaul
The Washington Post, May 24, 2001

The House overwhelmingly passed President Bush's education plan to link school performance to federal aid yesterday, providing a major boost to the president's efforts to enact the broadest overhaul of federal education policy since 1965.

Jeffords Criticizes Bush Education Plan
USA Today, May 29, 2001

Senator James Jeffords said he told President Bush that the administration's proposal for school spending would make Bush a "one-term president" and jeopardize GOP senators seeking re-election.


How to Define Poverty? Let Us Count the Ways
The New York Times, May 26, 2001

Since 1995, the Census Bureau has been developing a new measure for "poverty", one pegged more closely to the actual cost of getting by.

Finding Free Internet Access for Those Without
The New York Times, May 23, 2001

A group of nonprofit organizations are working to keep students connected to the Internet during their summer vacations by building and distributing a directory – in both English and Spanish - of more than 20,000 locations nationwide that offer free Internet access. The ConnectNet database, searchable by zip code, provides information about free Internet access at libraries and other community technology centers.

When Clock Beats Curriculum
The Washington Post, May 29, 2001

A 1999 study (pdf file) conducted by the Colorado-based Midcontinent Research for Education and Learning Lab showed that teachers would need twice the time now allocated to adequately cover all the material required by state standards.

School Accountability Remains Tough Task
The Washington Post, May 29, 2001

The House version of the education reform plan and the bill being shaped in the Senate remain at odds on the crucial question of defining a successful school and what would be done to punish those that are not.

Where the Gender Gap Gets its Start
The Christian Science Monitor, May 29, 2001

As boys do less well academically, drop out of high school at higher rates, and dwindle in numbers on college campuses, educators are starting to ask how - and whether - to adjust traditional assumptions that may deter boys from pursuing a college degree.

Immigration Researchers See a World of Struggles
The Washington Post, May 28, 2001

The Harvard Immigration Project, a five-year study of 400 first-generation immigrant students on both coasts of the United States, examines not just test scores but the "psychocultural aspects" of being an immigrant student in America's public schools.

Bilingual Debate Reaches Boil Point
The Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2001

Bilingual education, in which students study core subjects in their native language before eventually taking them in English, is under increasing criticism from parents and educators who say it puts students at a disadvantage and takes too long.

New Study Shows Urban School Progress in
Mathematics, Reading on State Tests (press release)
Council for the Great City Schools, May 22, 2001

In reviewing state test data, researchers at the Council of the Great City Schools, found that the nation's urban schools have posted gains in math and reading achievement. Also, the big city districts are showing promising reductions in gaps in student achievement between white and minority students.

Growth of Academies Highlights
New Thinking About Leadership
Education Week, May 23, 2001

Recently, there has been a growth of professional leadership academies designed to teach principals how to handle the pressures of the increasingly competitive education market.

East Harlem’s Winning School Technology Formula
T.H.E. Journal, May 2001

The Director of the Office of Instructional Technology at the New York City Board of Education describes the success of Project Smart Schools, an Instructional Technology program implemented in East Harlem.

Complex Factors Feed Disproportionate
Hispanic Dropout Rate
Dallas Morning News, May 22, 2001

In Texas, and across the country, Latinos are dropping out of school at a highly disproportionate rate (See also: Stopping the Spiral: Dropout Problem Needs New Solutions, Experts Say, Dallas Morning News, May 24, 2001.)

Same-Sex Schools a Failure, Study Says
Experts Fault Methods Rather Than Concept
San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 2001

According to a new Ford Foundation study, California's two-year experiment with single-sex public schools -- the nation's most ambitious effort to inspire leadership in girls and sensitivity in boys -- was largely a failure.

Secretary of Education Paige Names 2000-2001
Blue Ribbon Schools (press release)
U.S. Department of Education, May 23, 2001

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has named 264 public and private elementary schools as the 2000-2001 Blue Ribbon Schools. The program spotlights schools from around the country that have excelled in school leadership, teaching, curriculum, student achievement and parental involvement.

MARYLAND

Charles Closing Racial Gap in Reading Achievement
The Baltimore Sun, May 29, 2001

In third-grade reading, the scoring gap between Charles County's white pupils and black pupils on Maryland's annual exams has shrunk by a third over the past three years. In high schools, SAT scores for the county's black males jumped 97 points last year, and black females improved 67 points - even as Charles educators got more seniors than ever to take the college entrance exams.

Their 'Window to the World'
The Baltimore Sun, May 29, 2001

An interview with Marlene C. McLaurin, the new director of Baltimore Reads, a private, nonprofit organization with an annual budget of more than $4 million that runs literacy programs for children and adults throughout the Baltimore area.

Teaching Method Makes the Grade
The Baltimore Sun, May 27, 2001

Students in Baltimore area schools that have employed Direct Instruction (DI) -- a highly scripted, phonics-based program -- are performing better than students in other schools on reading tests.

PENNSYLVANIA

Boys Speak: 'We Need Role Models, More Attention'
The Christian Science Monitor, May 29, 2001

At Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia, a typical large urban high school, boys lag significantly behind girls.

Wall Street Firm Puts School Data, Analysis on Web
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 2001

Standard & Poor's, the giant financial analyst known for its corporate profiles and government bond ratings, recently unveiled a Web site containing comprehensive information about all 550 Michigan school districts, from test scores to tax bases. The company is working on a similar Web site for Pennsylvania that will be up and running in September.

Tests Show Wide Racial Disparity at City Schools
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 23, 2001

A national study on urban school districts by the
Council of the Great City Schools presents startling statistics on the racial achievement gap in Philadelphia.

VIRGINIA

Latino, White Students Cling to Own Social Circles
The Washington Post, May 29, 2001

A profile of Washington-Lee high school in Arlington, where there are strong social divisions between Latino and White students due to language barriers, cultural differences, class differences and different academic tracks. (See also: Latino Teens Yearn for a Voice, The Washington Post, May 28, 2001.)

SPECIAL ARTICLES & REPORTS

Beating the Odds: A City-By-City Analysis
of the Student Performance and Achievement
Gaps On State Assessments (Executive Summary)
Council of the Great City Schools, 2001

Is Single Gender Schooling Viable in the Public
Sector? - Lessons from California's Pilot Program
(pdf file)
A. Datnow, L. Hubbard & E. Woody, May 20, 2001

The Longitudinal Immigrant
Student Adaptation Study
Marcelo & Carola Suarez-Orozco, May 30, 2001

Making Schools Career Focused (pdf file)
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., March 1, 2001

Teacher Survey of Standards-Based
Instruction: Addressing Time (pdf file)
Midcontinent Research for Education and Learning Lab (MCREL), 1999

WEBSITES & LINKS

Harvard Immigration Project
(www.gse.harvard.edu/~hip)

A project of Harvard University's
Graduate School of Education

LA's Best After School Education,
Recreation and Enrichment Program
(www.lasbest.org)

An after school program in Los Angeles that addresses the rise in street gangs, school dropouts and drug use in communities where children lack adequate adult supervision during the critical hours between 3-6 p.m.

National Conference for Community and Justice (www.nccj.org)

Founded in 1927 as the National Conference for Christians and Jews, NCCJ is a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, racism and bigotry in the United States.

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