District Administration articles from December 2005

District Administration archives from December 2005

Listening to the voters.(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)
December 1, 2005... Just a year ago, the issue of education in politics seemed murky. While education started out as a key topic in the 2004 presidential race, the issue faded as the race came to its conclusion. In actuality, there weren't stark differences...

iPods OK in class.(schools are planning to usage of iPods as learning tool)
December 1, 2005... MP3 players, such as Apple iPods, that entertain children with music and video also are making waves as effective learning tools in schools nationwide, educators say. In Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Texas, teachers use iPods to teach English...

Bible textbook upholds constitution, still fuels debate.(Update: NEWS, STATS AND FACT)
December 1, 2005... A Public high school textbook released this fall is about addressing the loss of Bible literacy--and it's designed to meet constitutional standards. "We went in with our eyes wide open. We knew what the issues were and we created a product...

Guilty plea for stealing millions.(Frank Tassone )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The former Roslyn, N.Y., school superintendent pleaded guilty in September to stealing $2 million from the district over six years, according to The New York Times. In one of the biggest American school embezzlement cases in history, Frank...

Teacher salaries.(Connecticut teachers were the highest paid in the nation )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... While the average teacher salary nationally failed to keep up with inflation for the first time since the 1999-2000 school year, Connecticut teachers were the highest paid in the nation in 2003-04 school year. Connecticut was one of 22...

High energy costs hit schools hard.(Update: NEWS, STATS AND FACT)
December 1, 2005... With budgets already tight, and facing dramatic cost increases for heating buildings and fueling buses, school administrators are girding for a tough winter, particularly in cold-weather states. Charlie Kyte, executive director of the...

Continuing fears of science slip.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The U.S. is losing its edge. That's what a panel of experts convened by the National Academies, the nation's leading science advisory group, said when it urged the U.S. to strengthen scientific competitiveness. The report lists 20 steps the...

High school students performing better.(Update: NEWS, STATS AND FAST FACTS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Students are taking tougher courses, achieving at higher levels and earning more college degrees than they did 20 years ago, according to a new report released by Center on Education Policy. Do You Know... The Latest Good News About...

Stat blast: the high school senior.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 1, 2005... 69 percent of seniors in 2002 expected to finish college with a four-year degree or higher. 18 percent expected to complete a two-year postsecondary program or at least attend college. 75 percent chose...

Vocational ed gets pumped up.(California Governer donation for state's vocational education programs)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently pushed $20 million into the state's vocational education programs, giving students who don't want to head to college a chance at another life. The money will come out of existing Proposition 98...

Dole donates salad.(Dole Food Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Salad bars, fruit and gardens are among the plans for California schools. The Dole Nutrition Institute, the nutrition research and educational foundation established by Dole Food Company Inc., has a new "School Salad Days" pilot program in...

Four states collaborate to improve middle school test scores.(Inside the Law)
December 1, 2005... The Ohio Board of Regents is spearheading a $15 million, five-year project to improve middle school reading and math scores. Called the Middle School Achievement through Technology-Rich Interventions, the project brings together partners in...

NCLB & IDEA.(No Child Left Behind Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)(Brief Article)(Interview)
December 1, 2005... Ed Shapiro is an Iacocca Professor of Education and the director of Lehigh University's Center for Promoting Research to Practice. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION recently spoke with Shapiro about the reauthorization of IDEA, new methods for...

Notable quotable.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... "The biggest impact of NCLB may be a revolution in the way we talk about education for students with disabilities. The standard has always been an appropriate education that provides some minimal benefit or progress on IEP goals. We only heard...

More states swapping their high school assessment tests for SAT and ACT.(Inside the Law)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... When Maine and Michigan both announced they would replace their high school exit exams with the SAT and the ACT, they joined a few other states that have already nixed their high school exit exams in favor of college entrance exams. (The other...

Extreme multitasker.(Administrator Profile)(Larry Hill)(Biography)
December 1, 2005... All superintendents are standouts in some way, right? But how often does a superintendent do double-duty as elementary school principal and lead administrator? Give school tours to kids entering the school system, and to alums returning to town...

Broad appeal.(District Profile * Norfolk Public Schools)
December 1, 2005... When Noah Rogers took over as principal of Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk, Va., five years ago, less than a quarter of all students were meeting state proficiency standards. Today, more than 80 percent of the school's 1,500 students are...

MIT's $100 laptop: will this machine change the way children are educated?(Massachusetts Institute of Technology )
December 1, 2005... This fall, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory unveiled a prototype of its $100 laptop. The new machine reinvents the omnipresent laptop, not only slashing the price tag but also redesigning it for student use. The target...

What makes a successful urban school leader: it's an easy question to ask, but hard to answer. A group of experts discuss the many attributes needed to create effective principals.(LEADERSHIP)
December 1, 2005... From making sure a school is safe to maintaining academic standards to meeting NCLB requirements, urban school principals have to attend to a plethora of issues within the walls of their buildings. But what makes a principal effective? What...

Sealing the deal: six ways (other than increasing test scores) superintendents keep their positions and boost their salaries.(ANNUAL SALARY REPORT)
December 1, 2005... In the words of Kenneth Eastwood, the superintendent job is getting tougher and tougher. It's not just about improving student performance. Today's superintendents must also be financial geniuses and savvy politicians. Even worse, these types...

A board's culture shift.(SCHOOL BOARD RELATIONS)
December 1, 2005... A few "old school" teachers left the BCLUW School District in Iowa in the past few years, less than enamored with the new accountability piece the district created. The district even held off buying some textbooks. This was part of the price of...

"Thin is in: in more districts, thin clients are replacing "fat" computers. Is the time for a computing revolution near?(TECHNOLOGY)
December 1, 2005... At New York's Hudson Falls High School, Tracy Jameson leads her Earth Science class into a computer lab. The 18 ninth graders take their positions in front of empty screens land sleek, identical-looking "thin client" devices. The aide for the...

Leading the way with District Administration.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... To our readers: District Administration magazine exists to help school district leaders make informed decisions on behalf of their students, staff, and communities. In addition to our regular editorial content, another way we accomplish...

On-demand computing streamlines IT: Alabama district moves to centralized computing with Ardence Software Platform.
December 1, 2005... Just over two years ago, Davis Brock took a hard look at the state of his school district's technology infrastructure and realized he had a big problem. Brock is technology coordinator for Alabama's Elmore County School District, the...

C-SPAN video clips bring classroom discussions to life: free program allows teachers to go online and download pertinent videos.
December 1, 2005... The new C-SPAN Classroom Web site (www.c-spanclassroom.org) for middle and high school civics and government teachers is making an impact. The free, standards-based video content, discussion questions and primary source materials, designed to...

Pennsylvania Vo-Tech School engages students with math curriculum: Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutor[R] program tackles the blocking system.(Advertisement)
December 1, 2005... How do you keep high school kids engaged enough in math to sit through a double period of the subject--84 minutes of it--twice a week? That was the challenge for Jack Highfield, director of Parkway West Career and Technology Center, a...

Massachusetts School gets state-of-the-art AV systems: the keys: user-friendly operation and controls.
December 1, 2005... Creating a state-of-the-art AV system at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School (Whitman, MA) was a ground-up affair, according to Craig Finley, principal of AV design and consulting firm CC Technology Designs in Waltham, MA. The modern,...

Pre-owned textbooks relieve budget pressures: Follett Educational Services saves Canton City school district over 36% on textbook and supplemental purchases.(Advertisement)
December 1, 2005... When education budgets get tighter it's inevitably a struggle for administrators to find areas for savings that don't have a negative impact on students. But at the Canton City (OH) School District, (www.ccsdistrict.org), which has had to cut...

Home-based curriculum: meets states' needs Minnesota Virtual Academy meets needs of students, parents and educators with curriculum from K12, Inc.(Advertisement)
December 1, 2005... It's one of Minnesota's fastest-growing public schools, but not a single student has ever stepped inside the walls. The reason: this school has no walls; it's the Minnesota Virtual Academy, and its 630 students all study from home. For...

Engineering classes aided by 3D design software: SolidWorks software supports districts' engineering programs with CAD capabilities.
December 1, 2005... Prospective engineering students at K-12 schools nationwide are tapping into SolidWorks 3D CAD software to prepare them for the mechanical engineering courses they'll study in college. In North Carolina, for example, junior and senior high...

Construction costs: is your school project at risk? Any dinner-table economist knows hurricanes Katrina and Rita will impact school construction costs. The educational industry, however, is holding its breath to see how big the impact will be.(CONSTRUCTION)
December 1, 2005... Michael Garretson, deputy superintendent of the Broward County School District in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was still reeling from the 2004 hurricane season when four storms struck his state in quick succession. Thanks to the construction demand...

Blueprint for rebuilding: the cleanup has begun, but the question over how to rebuild the damaged schools still remains.(CONSTRUCTION)
December 1, 2005... Anyone who turned on a TV during the first weeks of September saw the gripping images of the aftermath that hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked across the Gulf Coast areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The loss of human life and...

Building partners: not all students are headed for careers in corporate America. A new campaign brings attention to the many lucrative careers for future tradesmen.(National Center for Construction Education and Research's marketing director Rachael Smith)(Interview)
December 1, 2005... In an effort to raise awareness about the projected shortfall of skilled workers, the National Center for Construction Education and Research has kicked off a new program called Careers in Construction Week. The nonprofit organization in...

Brookfield Public Schools: Connecticut School District uses website as the primary source of communications and manage their marketing message. finalsite enhances the management of BPS's branding, essence, and content delivery via the web through their On-Demand web services for Schools including School sites, teacher sites, athletics sites and more.(CASE STUDY)
December 1, 2005... DISTRICT PROFILE Name: Brookfield Public Schools Industry: K-12 Public School District Locations: Brookfield, Connecticut Size: 5 Schools, approx 3,000 students, 335 Staff URL: www.brookfieldps.org finalsite...

Interactive online maps: powerful tools make maps and geography come alive.(The Online Edge)
December 1, 2005... After Hurricane Katrina smashed the Gulf Coast, Larry S. Anderson, director of the National Center for Technology Planning, sent K-12 colleagues a link to online aerial photographs of the area taken by the Nicholas School of the Environment at...

Retaining teachers: district finds induction program crucial to success.(Public Opinion)
December 1, 2005... At Maine School Administrative District No. 1, one of my greatest concerns for the future of our district is the ability to recruit and retain quality teachers. Located in rural, northeastern Maine, our district has found that most candidates...

Reading fads: why Tom Friedman does not compute.(Speaking Out)
December 1, 2005... I'm always on the lookout for educational trends. Over the past couple of months the usual suspects who speak at education conferences have been toting around copies of Thomas Friedman's new book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the...

Wise data tracking.(Problem/Solution)
December 1, 2005... Problem: Students here, students there; students, students, everywhere. For most school districts, tracking students that move from one district to another can be a daunting, endless task for front-office officials who end up augmenting a paper...

Flipping the research coin. (Research Corner: EDUCATION DATA AND RESEARCH ANALYSIS FROM EDVANTIA.(FORMERLY AEL)
December 1, 2005... Randomized field trials are not the best or only way to address k all important research questions, but they are often described as the "gold standard." This month's column explores why researchers and NCLB express enthusiasm for experimental...

Tying math into the real world.(Curriculum Update)
December 1, 2005... What do guitars, fantasy football and a television show about a crime-solving Los Angeles FBI agent have in common? They're all part of the latest movement among math teachers to bring reality into the classroom. "We've always seen individual...

Teaching boxes help streamline science lessons.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Ask a teacher about teaching boxes and you'll hear tales of containers stuffed with lesson plans, assignments, overheads and more. Recently, the National Science Foundation decided to replace all that paper and take advantage of digital...

How to improve your social studies curriculum.(teaching methods)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Chris Johnson is the editorial director of social studies at McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company. Although he is pleased states have been passing new social studies curriculum mandates, he is concerned that they add to an...

New curriculum shows remarkable results.(Bright IDEA 1)
December 1, 2005... Bright IDEA 1, a new curriculum that involved more than 900 kindergarten, first and second graders in regular classrooms in five Title 1 schools in North Carolina from 2001 through 2004, was recently awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S....

Xserve RAID: Apple.(Apple Computer Inc., product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.apple.com, Storage system, $5,999 This 3U high-availability, rack storage system delivers seven terabytes of storage capacity at $1.86 per GB. Designed with 14 independent 500GB Ultra ATA drive channels, the dual independent RAID...

Toast 7: Roxio.(product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.roxio.com Software. $99.95 This upgrade to the company's Mac CD and DVD burning product suite includes multi-image high definition slideshows with pan-and -zoom effects, transitions and background soundtracks and audio DVDs with over...

MMX 32 VGA MTP: Extron Electronics.(Extron Electronics RGB Systems Inc, product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.extron.com, Hardware, $995 This compact three input, two output VGA and stereo audio matrix switcher features a built-in twisted pair transmitter for RGBHV and summed mono (L+R) audio. It's capable of driving UXGA (1600x1200)...

Remark Office OMR 60: Principia Products.(product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... 6.0 www.PrincipiaProducts.com Software, $895/single user license This new version allows users to scan virtually any plain paper OMR form, without the need for registration marks or special inks. The data from filled in bubbles or...

LCD-16 Wireless LCD Projector Audio Transmitter: Califone International, Inc.(product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.califone.com, Hardware, $144 This product was designed to help schools better use and enhance audio from LCD projectors, most of which do not have built-in audio amplifiers. This lightweight transmitter has a single connector, is about...

Literacy Intervention Suite: AutoSkill International Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.autoskill.com Software, License starts from $1,200 Available for the K-12 market, the package consists of two research-based products that provide a consistent methodology and common management and reporting tools to help administrators...

X3: InFocus Corp.(product information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.infocus.com, Hardware, $1199 This multi-use, digital projector offers a 4,000 hour lamp and 1600 lumens to fill a screen or wall with images from data and video sources. At 6.8 pounds, it provides a 2000:1 contrast ratio and automatic...

GroupMail 5: Infacta Ltd.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.group-mail.com Software, starts from $99.95 This family of Windows applications enables users to send personalized communications to large groups of people. Besides personalizing the body of e-mail messages, subject lines and...

Degunking your Mac, Tiger Edition: Paraglyph Press.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... www.paraglyphpress.com Book, $24.99 This book provides users of Tiger--Apple's new operating system for Mac's--with tips on how to clean-up and streamline their computer. With her 12-step program the author. Apple expert Joli Ballew,...

Math Concepts & Skills 2: Pearson Digital Learning.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... www.PearsonDigital.com, Software, $450/ user license Designed for kindergarten through grade eight, this new version offers interactive practice and assessment in elementary mathematics foundations. The interface features one new theme for...

Promethean's ACTIVprimary2: Atomic Learning.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.atomiclearning.com, Web-based software, Free This software is among the 350 tutorials that the company recently released, boosting its library to more than 15,000 tutorials for more than 85 different applications. The introductory...

Academy of MATH: AutoSkill International Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.autoskill.com, Software, $1,000 and up This software's latest version can help students achieve mathematical proficiency through its systematic approach toward building and mastering skills, including conceptual understanding,...

Avery Photo ID Software Platinum: Avery Dennison.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.photoID.averycom/information, Software, ranges between $600-$700 The latest version of this visitor management system includes many new features. Users can create customized badges from a blank template or modify pre-designed badges...

iExpresate! Premier Online Edition: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.hrw.com Web-based program, starts from $15.95 per student/year This program employs instructional and multisensory learning techniques to connect middle and high school student to Spanish-speaking countries, their arts, culture and...

Document cameras: all you need to know to make great presentations: Elmo USA Corp.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.elmousa.com, Book, Free This book, available on the company's Web site, covers what document cameras are, what they can do, and the various types available to educators. Also included are more than a dozen case histories of successful...

Spanish/English editions: Weekly Reader.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.weeklyreader.com, Magazines, $4.15-$5.45/student The company's classroom magazines are now being offered for Spanish-speaking students in grades K-2. They offer a bilingual format for students at different reading levels and come with:...

Odyssey Mathematics: Compass Learning, Inc.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... www.compasslearning.com, Software, Starts at $50 per student This latest addition meets the needs of many of the 5.5 million children who are English Language Learners and whose first language is Spanish. The first level of this math...

Calendar of events.
December 1, 2005... DECEMBER National Inclusive Schools Week December 5-9 www.inclusiveschools.org FEBRUARY 2006 AASA National Conference on Education February 23-26 San Diego, Calif. www.aasa.org MARCH 2006 FETC...

The year 2014.(pupil/teacher ratio, statistics)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... PUPIL/TEACHER RATIOS Projected number for the pupil/teacher ratio in K-12 schools 1989 16.7 to 1 2002 15.9 to 1 2014 14.6 to 1 EXPENDITURES On Education 45% Current expenditures in constant 2002-03...