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Education News

Education News:
November 14, 2008

Every week we scour the headlines from around the nation and prepare brief executive summaries of the top education stories.

Interested in last week's headlines or the week before that? View our archive section. Also view our education resources, below, to keep up to date about the latest news and trends in education and the teaching community.

This Week in Education

Study Finds Charter Schools are Best Option for Poor Students in California
(Los Angeles Times, November 11th, 2008) The California Charter Schools Assn. found, using the Academic Performance Index, that twelve of the top fifteen schools that cater to students in poverty are charter schools. The highest score, 967 out of a possible 1000, belonged to the American Indian Public Charter, a middle school in Oakland. Charter schools are public schools run independently from a school district, and general perception is that they are more successful than standard public schools. That, however, could be due to the fact that Charter Schools’ students tend to come from more academically motivated families. Ben Chavis, who has been in charge of the American Indian Public Charter since 2001, credits the school’s success to the practice of math and language arts, and a “no-nonsense approach.” He also believes that the poor students are easier to teach than affluent ones because they are more motivated to succeed.

NYC’s Grading System Finds Majority of High Schools Have Improved
(New York Times, November 12, 2008) The vast majority of NYC Schools showed improvement this year with 83% of schools receiving A’s or B’s and only 5% of schools receiving D’s or F’s. With accountability as the cornerstone, 57% of the schools who received grades last year improved theirs grade or maintained an A. The grading system also suggests that school size is the key to success, with the average size of schools receiving A’s was less than half the average size of schools receiving D’s and F’s. The grades are based on graduation rates, credit accumulation and regents exams, and are heavily weighted to compare similar schools. Overall, schools improved in 17 of the 18 categories. The scores were still criticizes by some educators, however, for being too focused on testing.

DC Chancellor Proposes Raise as Optional Substitute for Tenure
(New York Times, November 12, 2008) Washington DC’s School Chancellor Michelle Rhee has recently proposed that teachers be able to give up tenure to receive raises as high as $40,000, funded by private investors. Rhee views tenure as a great benefit for teachers, but a hindrance to students as it is a barrier to getting rid of incompetent teachers. The 4,000 member Washington Teachers’ Union remains divided. The plan would have every teacher choose between two plans, green and red. Under the green plan, pay would rise spectacularly, nearly doubling by 2010, but the teacher would have to give up tenure for a year, after which they would need a Principals recommendation or face dismissal. Under the red plan, there would also be a significant pay increase, but the teacher would lose seniority rights. The proposal was first outlined last summer, and tired of waiting for a response, Rhee has begun an effort to identify and fire ineffective teachers, tenured or not. While public supports Rhee, a poll in august showed teachers were against the bill three to one.

Bold School Reforms a Possibility in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah
(Christian Science Monitor, November 14, 2008) Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah have agreed to several proposals put forth by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, who aims to prepare students for today’s workforce. There is no word yet on how many of the ideas put forth in the commission’s “Tough Choices or Tough Times” 2006 report the states will put adopt. The report advocated that schools save money in order to put more towards pre-kindergarten school and higher teacher salaries. New Hampshire is also debating implementing a state board exam so that students could take it to graduate high school to begin college or career training.

States Pass Laws Overruling Common Policy of Separating Siblings
(USA Today, November 12, 2008) A total of nine states have now passed laws requiring public schools to honor parents’ requests regarding class placement of twins. Educators have typically separated twins or triplets to help them form their own identities, but parents feel that this can cause the siblings to be anxious, especially if there is additional stress from family matters. New research even suggests that separated twins fair worse than when kept together.

Mix It Up Program Aims to Break Down Racial Barriers in Cafeteria
(Washington Post, November 14, 2008) In an effort to break down racial and ethnic social divisions in schools, the Mix It Up program held a nationwide event, involving about 10,000 schools, encouraging students to break habits and sit with new people during lunch. Prince William County high school in Woodbridge, VA, participated in the event but with a third of its students African-American, a third Latino, a quarter white and 10% Asian, demonstrated just how hard it can be to break old habits. Most students remained seated with racially or ethnically similar students despite the efforts of several students in “Mix It Up” t-shirts urging them to move. Other participating schools tried other tactics such as sitting by birth month, or hiring a DJ to foster inclusion.

Thousands of Bay Area Children Benefit from Free Dictionary Day
(San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 2008) A San Francisco foundation known as The Dictionary Project passed out dictionaries to 5,000 bay area students in an effort to spread the power of the word. Whether looking up words like such as “peace” or “tricycle” and learning about nouns or figuring out how to spell “cool” the dictionaries had something to teach every student.

Popular Education Journals and Magazines

Following are a few of the most popular education journals and magazines. For a complete listing of journals and magazines, see one of the directories listed below.

Directories of Education Journals and Magazines

Sites offering directories of hundreds of journals and magazines (both electronic and printed) related to education. Many of the resources contained in the directories below are free.