District Administration articles from June 2009

District Administration archives from June 2009

Shifting from "green" to "sustainable".(From the Editor)
June 1, 2009... AS WE AT DA SORTED OUT WHAT TO TITLE THIS MONTH'S special section, it was time to really understand the difference between the terms "green" and "sustainable," two of the more popular buzzwords these days. I found the best explanation on...

Going to K.C.(PEOPLE WATCH)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Broad Superintendents Academy graduate John Covington will be the next superintendent of the Kansas City (Mo.) School District, its 26th leader since 1969. Since 2006 he has been superintendent of Pueblo (Colo.) City...

New security chief.(PEOPLE WATCH)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Michael Shields has been appointed the new director of security for Chicago Public Schools, which has seen a record number of students die violently this school year. Shields is a cousin of Michelle Obama.

Math ED VP.(PEOPLE WATCH)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peggy Pawloski has been named vice president of professional services for Carnegie Learning, a publisher of research-based math solutions for K12 and higher education students. Pawloski spent 13 years with...

A district disaster?(PEOPLE WATCH)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb has asked the federal government to put the district under a "special presidential emergency declaration," a step typically taken only after a natural...

Gov. joins board.(PEOPLE WATCH)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Arne Duncan has appointed Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to the 26-member National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card.

Broadband funding opportunities.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
June 1, 2009... THE BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM, ADMINISTERED by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has $4.7 billion in grants through the federal stimulus package to give for expanding...

Open source software: a budget cutter's ally?(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
June 1, 2009... EVEN WITH STIMULUS DOLLARS flowing nationwide, districts are still facing large budget deficits and are looking for ways to save money. Some are investigating free and open source software (FOSS) as a result. FOSS applications are the work...

Hello striving readers, goodbye reading first.(BRIEFINGS: News Update)
June 1, 2009... BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF FUNDING INCREASE, THE BIG winner in President Obama's proposed 2010 education budget is Striving Readers, which is slated to go from $35 million to $370 million. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This program was designed...

Not 100 percent clear on the stimulus? Try these sites.(BRIEFINGS: Stimulus Monitor)
June 1, 2009... THESE EDUCATION-RELATED NON-profits and companies have set up Web-based resource centers to provide information on the ARRA. NONPROFITS ASCD Allows visitors to see funding allocations for each state by guiding their mouse over a...

Assessment-driven programming.(Administrator Profile: SUPERINTENDENT JOEL L. VOYTOSKI)
June 1, 2009... JOEL L. VOYTOSKI, VETERAN superintendent of the Evergreen School District 50 in Kalispell, Mont., has been named the state's 2009 Superintendent of the Year for his success in morphing programs around student assessments. "We're using a...

A deeper shade of green: school administrators are raising the bar on sustainability efforts, and the results are paying off big time.(SPECIAL SECTION: SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FOR MANY SCHOOLS, "GOING GREEN" once meant turning out the lights after leaving the classroom, filling the recycle bins, and celebrating Earth Day. Not anymore. Although such activities remain staples of...

The new school lunch: as part of a healthier school food movement, food service providers and district administrators find creative ways to provide better meals.(SPECIAL SECTION: SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS)
June 1, 2009... IF THE SCHOOLS IN YOUR district are like most in the United States, there is a good chance that today's lunch features pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets or maybe hamburgers with processed cheese. Is serving these types of foods really in the...

The wholesome chef: Jim Rowan, food service director of two northwest school districts, on feeding students quality meals.(SPECIAL SECTION: SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS)(Interview)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NORTHERN CALIFORNIA NATIVE JIM ROWAN IS PASSIONATE ABOUT FOOD. A self-taught chef, Rowan switched last summer from culinary director at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., to food service director at Astoria (Ore.)...

Business brings sustainable lessons to school: students learn about energy efficiency with companion curricula that include hands-on projects.(SPECIAL SECTION: SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS)
June 1, 2009... PITSCO'S GREEN PROJECTS and products, Lexmark's paper program, and Lutron Electronics' Greenovation program are just a few curricular ideas that K12 classrooms are using to help districts save energy and teach students to help save the...

A netbook for every student: affordable and portable--but do they get the job done?(TECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST personal computer in 1971 began a process that has led to a computer reduced in size, weight and cost, which makes it increasingly popular in education--the netbook. Initially caught...

Vision videos empower students: a new Web-based tool, Tel.A.Vision, inspires young people to dream the possible dream.
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN EARLY MARCH, AS HE addressed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., President Obama spoke at great length of the reforms he believes will give Americans "a complete and competitive education,...

Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right.
June 1, 2009... Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right Teachers College Press, $19.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Believing that public schools should be held accountable but that No Child Left Behind is deeply flawed, Economic Policy...

Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie-Cutter High Schools.
June 1, 2009... Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie-Cutter High Schools Corwin Press, $36.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Co-authors Frank S. Kelly, Ted McCain and Ian Jukes describe how traditional high schools have become outdated and...

Corpus Christi (Texas) Independent School District: www.echalkweb.ccisd.us.(How Well Does This Web Site Work? LEARN WHAT OUR WEB ANALYST SAYS IS RIGHT AND WRONG WITH THIS DISTRICT SITE)
June 1, 2009... THE CORPUS CHRISTI (TEXAS) Independent School District serves approximately 38,500 students and has just over 2,500 classroom teachers. The district is made up of 40 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, 5 high schools and 5 special campuses....

Texas Instruments.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Algebra Nspired, Geometry Nspired Math Resources Internet, Free Texas Instruments' Algebra Nspired and Geometry Nspired are online companion teacher resources for the new TI-Nspire graphing calculator. Each...

Smith System.(New Products: THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET)
June 1, 2009... Elemental Desks, Classroom Furniture Facilities, $166-$191 School furniture maker Smith System's first line of open-front student desks is intended to brighten classrooms and increase comfort while maintaining functionality. The...

Helping kids say no to drugs.(Problem Solution: SUCCESS STORIES FROM DISTRICTS ACROSS THE NATION)
June 1, 2009... PROBLEM At first glance, the Pewaukee (Wis.) School District would not be a likely candidate to consider a drug-testing program. There was no one incident, such as a student's overdose or a police bust of a party, that spurred school...

Leadership goes public: it's time for school administrators to publicly model their own learning.(ONLINE EDGE)
June 1, 2009... I'VE OFTEN WONDERED WHAT the response would be if we asked the kids in our schools to reflect on how their teachers learn. Not on how much they know or how creative they might be, but on how they learn--what their process is, what their...