District Administration articles from January 2009

District Administration archives from January 2009

It's all good.(Editor's Letter)
January 1, 2009... BESIDES SPONSORING NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MacArthur Foundation works toward promoting understanding of how technology is affecting children and society, among other important issues. The foundation's latest study on...

The irony of prizes.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I had seen the write-up about the 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education given to the Brownsville (Texas) Independent School District (Editor's Letter, December 2008). I was unaware that the district had not met NCLB requirements. Is it true that...

The value of media programs.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I appreciate DA's publishing an article about the essential need to maintain and expand media programs in our schools ("School Libraries Renewed," October 2008). In Florida our budgets are in disarray and some principals have cut their media...

IEPs for every child.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I enjoyed Daniel E. Kinnaman's column on individualized education plans for every child ("Change Every Child Needs," October 2008). A type of IEP is made for first- through sixth-graders in Evaline Elementary School, a small, rural school in...

In with the new.(PEOPLE WATCH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan has been tapped to serve as U.S. education secretary. He is credited with boosting achievement in the nation's third-largest district, partly through performance rewards.

Setting a high bar.(PEOPLE WATCH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] San Francisco schools superintendent Carlos Garcia wants all seniors, starting with the class of 2014, to pass the college prep classes required for UC and CSU admission, calling it a "rigorous life-readiness...

Getting the boot.(PEOPLE WATCH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] David Brewer has been voted out as L.A. schools chief with a $500K-plus buyout package from the district. Just midway through his four-year contract, he came under fire from critics who called him an ineffective...

Appointed.(PEOPLE WATCH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New Jersey state transportation commissioner Kris Kolluri will take the reins as head of the state's $12.5 billion school construction program and help speed up overdue school projects.

Sentenced.(PEOPLE WATCH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ruben Bohuchot, former Dallas ISD chief technology officer, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery and money laundering. He accepted $1 million from a computer vendor for a contract.

Three states eye bold change for schools.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TALK IS CHEAP WHEN IT COMES to high school reform, but three states--Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah--are doing just that as they experiment with some new ideas to prepare students for a competitive workforce...

Community colleges in the spotlight.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
January 1, 2009... THE BRIGHTEST HIGH SCHOOL seniors often vie for a spot at some of the most prestigious--and expensive--universities, but in the current economy community colleges are also enjoying their fair share of attention. A recent survey of 2,500...

Fast fact.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Six percent fewer elementary schools and 17 percent fewer middle schools are teaching foreign languages than a decade ago, citing budget cuts, a shortage of teachers, and constraints from NCLB due to math and reading...

English for the 21st Century.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
January 1, 2009... THE PARTNERSHIP FOR 21ST Century Skills and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) have recently announced their completion of a framework that will provide educators and administrators with teacher-created models of how...

MySpace verdict raises identity questions.(BRIEFINGS: Security)
January 1, 2009... A FEDERAL JURY RECENTLY ISSUED WHAT computer fraud and legal experts are calling the country's first cyberbullying verdict, convicting a Missouri woman of three misdemeanor charges of computer fraud for having misrepresented herself and...

Who's keeping students safe online?(BRIEFINGS: Security)
January 1, 2009... FEWER THAN 25 PERCENT OF educators feel comfortable teaching students how to protect themselves from online predators, cyberbullies and identity thieves, says a new study from the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Educational...

L.A. schools to make the most of their land.(BRIEFINGS: Facilities & Construction)
January 1, 2009... LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICIALS recognize that their district is part of a tight urban center, and they want to utilize their land in a cost-efficient manner. To do this, they are looking to develop low-cost apartments, parking...

A million greenbacks for going green.(BRIEFINGS: Facilities & Construction)
January 1, 2009... HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT may be incentive enough to adopt energy-efficient practices, but one Massachusetts district, in light of the economy, is enjoying even cooler rewards. Taunton Public Schools has saved more than $1 million in less...

Technology showcase struts its stuff.(Administration Profile: DIRECTOR OF INTRUCTIONAL & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, JENNIFER FAULKNER)
January 1, 2009... WHEN ALAMO HEIGHTS (TEXAS) Independent School District opened in 1909 as a rural, two-room wooden-frame school, who would have thought that 96 years later its students would become teachers to their own parents? In fact, officials in this...

Synergistic district management.(District Profile: SUSQUEHANNA (PA.) TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT)
January 1, 2009... DAVID VOLKMAN, 61, HAS SCALED the career ladder from classroom teacher to superintendent of the Susquehanna (Pa.) Township School District. And Matthew Malinowski, 28, is at Volkman's side as the assistant superintendent of business services....

The road ahead for education.(Conversations: Randi Weingarten)(Interview)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RANDI WEINGARTEN, HEAD OF the New York City teachers union United Federation of Teachers, took on the additional role of president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teachers union in...

Corwin Press: Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching.
January 1, 2009... CORWIN PRESS Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching, 2nd ed. www.corwinpress.com, $35.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Using research from neuroscience, biology and psychology, brain expert Eric Jensen offers an...

Solution Tree: The Collaborative Administrator: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community.
January 1, 2009... SOLUTION TREE The Collaborative Administrator: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community www.solution-tree.com, $29.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This collection of essays by a diverse group of respected...

Guilford Press: Effective School Interventions: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Student Outcomes.
January 1, 2009... GUILFORD PRESS Effective School Interventions: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Student Outcomes, 2nd ed. www.guilford.com, $46.00 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Professor of psychology and former administrator Natalie...

Harvard Education Press: Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in American Public Education.
January 1, 2009... HARVARD EDUCATION PRESS Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in American Public Education www.harvardeducationpress.org, $29.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Drawing on a four-year study of the last 40 years of education reform...

Simon & Schuster: The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time.
January 1, 2009... SIMON & SCHUSTER The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time www.simonsays.com, $24.99 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Best-selling author Stephen R. Covey profiles...

21st-century education.(Research Center: ESSENTIALS ON EDUCATION DATA and RESEARCH ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2009... WHAT CONSTITUTES A 21ST-century education? The answers vary (Walser, 2008), but 10 states have already adopted the framework used by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org), and more states are preparing to do so....

The readers' choices.(Editor's Letter)
January 1, 2009... Our annual crop of the top 100 education products that have made a difference to school districts is in this special issue of DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION. We regularly update our New Products directory (www.districtadministration.com/newproducts)...

Dream classrooms: for many educators, the latest in-class technologies, such as laptops and whiteboards, would make any classroom dreamy. For others, connecting outside the classroom is the high-tech way to go. We asked a few K12 administrators across the nation--in small and large districts, rural and urban--to reveal their greatest classroom desires in celebration of DA's annual Top 100 New Products issue. Here's what they told us.
January 1, 2009... KATHY SHIRLEY Director of Technology and Media Services Escondido (Calif.) Union School District (K8) America's iPod generation would feel at home in Kathy Shirley's dream classroom. A few schools in her district are using iPods...

Readers' Choice top 100 products 2008: many of the top 100 winners have been influenced by cloud computing.(PRODUCT TRENDS)
January 1, 2009... THE PAST YEAR SAW A number of trends in each category of education products, as the changing demands of the 21stcentury consumer and K12 markets drive the evolution of technology, and we explore a number of these trends in the following pages....

Presenting information more effectively: the use of interactive whiteboards, document cameras and projectors is growing in K12 classrooms, helping educators better communicate with tech-savvy students.(HARDWARE WINNERS)
January 1, 2009... PRESENTATION DEVICES were among the most commonly nominated products. Interactive Whiteboards Whiteboards in particular continue to be utilized increasingly in districts, and not only in the United States. Worldwide sales of the...

Helping educators manage it all: more K12 educators are relying on software to help run their districts, teach curricula, and protect vital information.(SOFTWARE WINNERS)
January 1, 2009... MORE THAN EVER, school district management is aided by software, and many administrators nominated programs that have helped them run their districts. Many have been able to implement large, district-level management software applications that...

District management goes online: Internet resources are helping administrators do everything from testing students to providing professional development opportunities.(INTERNET WINNERS)
January 1, 2009... WITH EVERY YEAR, AS bandwidth grows and computers become faster, more and more districts are finding online resources to be great tools for meeting a variety of needs. Assessments In order to meet the demands of NCLB reporting while...

Advancing professional learning and assessment: these books and materials are helping educators teach more effectively.(BOOKS & MATERIALS WINNERS)
January 1, 2009... READERS NOMINATED VARIOUS BOOKS AND CLASSROOM MATERIALS, INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL development resources, electronic learning devices, assessments and intervention programs. In particular, readers noted that professional learning books and...

Secure, healthy and energy efficient: Aging buildings and an ambitious Obama administration mean that school facilities products are more important than ever.(FACILITIES WINNERS)
January 1, 2009... IN ITS REPORT CARD FOR America's Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave public school facilities a "D" grade in 2005 and claimed then that it would take more than $268 billion of renovations and construction to bring them...

The way things are going: could this be the timeline of events for America's school districts?(Mis-UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES)(Chronology)
January 1, 2009... 2009: More technology--computers, interactive whiteboards, visual presenters, and more--is in school districts than ever before, but school budgets are under considerable strain. Wildly fluctuating fuel, food and energy costs and a struggling...

District Web site essentials: these fundamental elements and approaches equal a more rewarding online experience for your audience.(Cover story)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MOST PEOPLE USE THE Internet as a source of instant information and go online with a specific purpose in mind. Visitors to school district Web sites are no exception. Your district site should aim to be a welcoming,...

Second annual X factor Student Achievement Grant.(District Administration x factor ACHIEVEMENT GRANT)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 500 words bring $20,000 plus $30,000 in software and professional development to one winning K12 district. Two finalists are also big winners! EDUCATORS DREAM OF AN X-FACTOR * The second annual DISTRICT...

The winning cookie: freshly baked cookies will be the end product of a cross-curricular financial education project.(Cookie Academy Project: Antwerp (Ohio) Local School District)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER ERIN LICHTY had long thought about finding extra resources for her K3 students at Antwerp (Ohio) Local School District as new achievement requirements demanded more testing and progress among...

A living arcade: a video-game type of environment will draw more students to become proficient in reading and math.(Living and Learning Arcade: Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School)
January 1, 2009... VIDEO GAMES ARE EXCITING and challenging to children, something curriculum director Donna Payne is counting on to motivate the students at her Pittsburgh school. Payne's program idea, the Living and Learning Arcade, at the Urban League of...

Bringing mobility: a mobile computer lab for practicing reading and math skills will help raise achievement for at-risk students.(Mobile Computer Lab: Sulphur Bluff (Texas) Independent School District)
January 1, 2009... IN THE SMALL TOWN OF Sulphur Bluff, Texas, most residents head to nearby Sulphur Springs for work, as their own small town's dairy farming industry has dried up over the past few decades. The Sulphur Bluff Independent School District, which...

Guest judge gives reading and writing another chance: reading expert and author John Corcoran offers a unique perspective on the X-factor in schools today.(District Administration x factor ACHIEVEMENT GRANT)
January 1, 2009... JOHN CORCORAN TAUGHT HIGH SCHOOL GRAMMAR, social studies and physical education for 17 years, made a career change and developed over $50 million in real estate. And at age 48, he learned to read and write through research-based literacy...

Learning Cafe: Phoenix (Ariz.) Elementary School District #1.(Honorable Mentions)
January 1, 2009... THE CAPITOL SCHOOL in Phoenix, Ariz., is surrounded by run-down, industrial areas, liquor stores, motels and gas stations, and when students leave school, their homes serve as the only refuge to connect with friends. School staff want to change...

Parent empowerment program: Yonkers (N.Y.) Public Schools.(Honorable Mentions)
January 1, 2009... DESPITE GREAT EFFORTS, MANY schools are finding it hard to meet their annual yearly progress goals under NCLB, a challenge that can be linked to the difficulty English Language Learners (ELLs) have in meeting benchmarks on language arts exams....

Robotics program: Portsmouth (Va.) Public Schools.(Honorable Mentions)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OFFICIALS AT PORTSMOUTH (VA.) Public Schools wish to give their students a practical experience that goes above and beyond standard definitions of "hands-on." With a project designed to "open all students' eyes" to...

Interactive Group Learning: Cooperative Educational Services Trumbull, Conn.(Honorable Mentions)
January 1, 2009... STUDENTS AT COOPERATIVE Educational Services, a regional educational service center, hail from districts throughout Fairfield County, Conn., and exhibit a range of emotional, behavioral, social, academic and learning difficulties. The children...

All Children Can Excel (ACE): Buena Vista City (Va.) Public Schools.(Honorable Mentions)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MOST LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IN Buena Vista, Va., does not require a high school diploma. Officials at Buena Vista City Public Schools say that 62 percent of residents have service or farming jobs. But school leaders want...

Social Studies for the 21st century: changing business as usual with a new map for K12 social studies.(CURRICULUM)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF social studies classes--from elementary through high school--focused on goals such as collaboration, creativity and innovation, and initiative and self-direction? Or if students in those classes...

The impending mobile mega-disruption: a big change is in the wind that can be your opportunity to revitalize education.(TECH DISRUPTIONS)
January 1, 2009... THE PERSONAL COMPUTER caused a big disruption. Essentially all the mini-computer manufacturers, such as DEC and Prime, went out of business as companies realized that personal computers were just fine for business and people started buying...

Educating the educators: teaching adults requires strategies that work for them.(PROFESSIONAL OPINION)
January 1, 2009... ASKING ADULTS TO TAKE PART in a professional development workshop will increase the likelihood of its success. Research tells us that adults learn best when they have control over what they learn, engage collaboratively with others, and connect...

Got it! Califone.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES. AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Califone Got It! Student Response System Hardware, $1,350/set of 24, $1,785/set of 40 Califone has entered the student response system market with Got It!, a wireless set designed for the K12...

EX70: Epson.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES. AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... EPSON EX70 Projector, Hardware, $799 The EX70 is Epson's entry-level widescreen 3LCD projector. It displays WXGA (1366x768) resolution in a widescreen 16:10 aspect ratio at 2,000 lumens of brightness. Epson's exclusive features...

Arrival, Exam Tracking System: Pitney Bowes.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES. AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PITNEY BOWES Arrival, Exam Tracking System Software, contact manufacturer for price Pitney Bowes' Arrival is an automated exam-tracking software program that enables administrators to track...

D732MX: Vivitek.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] VIVITEK D732MX Projector, Hardware, $1,249 The D732MX, Vivitek's latest mobile projector, includes a built-in carrying handle and weighs just 7.3 pounds. It displays at XGA (1924x768) resolution and...

TeacherLine Peer Connection: PBS.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection Professional Development Resource Internet, starting at $169 per course PBS's new version of TeacherLine Peer Connection online professional development suite...

netTrekker d.i., Education Search Engine: Thinkronize.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... THINKRONIZE netTrekker d.i., Education Search Engine Internet, $1,730 per school With over 300,000 resources selected by educators, netTrekker d.i. is the largest online search engine devoted exclusively to educational content....

Flip Video Mino, Video Cameras: Pure Digital Technologies.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PURE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES Flip Video Mino, Video Cameras Hardware, $179.99 Pure Digital has added to its line of Flip Video cameras with the new Mino, the smallest, lightest and most portable video...

ResponseWare Web: Turning Technologies.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... TURNING TECHNOLOGIES ResponseWare Web Student Response System Internet, starting at $19.49 per user annual subscription ResponseWare Web is Turning Technologies' next generation student response system. Similar in procedure to...

WriteCycle, Plagiarism Prevention Program: Turnitin.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TURNITIN WriteCycle, Plagiarism Prevention Program Internet, less than $2 per student annually WriteCycle is a suite of Web-based, integrated services intended to improve student writing. Three...

Visual presenters.(Product Focus: A GUIDE TO ONE SEGMENT OF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY)
January 1, 2009... WHEN THE FIRST ANALOG DOCUMENT CAMERAS WERE INVENTED IN THE LATE 1970S, THEY provided an easier way to display documents to a class by using a television screen or video projector instead of overhead projectors and transparency sheets. Today's...

Did you know? Are the schools we have the schools we need?(UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES)
January 1, 2009... THERE IS A VIDEO FLOATING around cyberspace these days titled Did You Know? It's four minutes and forty seconds of telecosmic factoids and "what it means" conjectures, rolled out in a techno-rock presentation. You can see it on YouTube at...