District Administration articles from March 2002

District Administration archives from March 2002

Holding school boards more accountable. (editor's letter).
March 1, 2002... By now, most readers probably know the story of Christine Pelton, a high school science teacher in Piper, Kan. If not, here's a quick recap. Pelton, 26, was a biology teacher who gave her classes a writing assignment on tree leaves. When...

Top 25 criticism. (letters to the editor).
March 1, 2002... This morning we received our copy of DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION. I immediately turned to the cover story ("The Top 25 Education Technology Advocates," December 2001, p. 33) and found myself utterly astonished by your choices for the list, which...

Student grading opponents. (letters to the editor).
March 1, 2002... Loved the column in DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION ("The New Three-Fifths Compromise," Speaking Out, February 2002, p. 21). As a middle school principal I fought to get rid of student grading and fortunately had good back up from the superintendent....

Praise for Tech Upgrades. (letters to the editor).
March 1, 2002... I want to thank you for an excellent article in DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION ("Top 10 Tech Upgrades for 2002," January 2002, p. 24). I am a new assistant superintendent in a smaller school district and we have no IT person other than me. We have a...

Making time for conversations. (letters to the editor).
March 1, 2002... I read your Speaking Out column ("Introducing the Latest Leadership Trend--Talking," January 2002, p. 56) and just wanted to let you know that I appreciated your insights. It really does seem like a no-brainer, but finding time for meaning,...

Omission.
March 1, 2002... A District Plus item in our February issue failed to mention contact information for the item "How to Save on Telecommunications Costs." The American TelEd Communications Alliance can be reached at 888-870-8677; its Web page is located at...

Rise and shine. (District plus: tips and ideas for successful district leadership).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... When teenagers are able to catch a few more zzzzz's, they perform better in class, some education experts say. But when high schools start as early as 7:15 a.m. and students are loaded down with homework assignments and extracurricular...

Turning the tables. (District plus: tips and ideas for successful district leadership).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The St. Louis Public School District uses many different methods to communicate with the city's residents, including the typical cable TV show, school Web pages and school newsletters. But one of its programs last year was unusual. Right...

Using humor to make work more enjoyable. (District plus: tips and ideas for successful district leadership).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... "Most people in education don't look like they're having a whole lot of fun anymore," says Mary Kay Morrison, a consultant for the Kishwaukee Intermediate Delivery System, a regional education office in Illinois. That's why she created a Humor...

What do students want? (District plus: tips and ideas for successful district leadership).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... High school geometry students at Edmonds School District 15 in Lynnwood, Wash., have a few ideas about must-have's for the school of the future. Their plans for a state-of-the-art high school in the year 2050 reveal a lot about student concerns...

Poll: politics frustrate superintendents. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).
March 1, 2002... Politics is a dirty word for many superintendents, according to a recent survey of superintendents and principals. And they say it is among the chief irritants compelling them to run from their jobs, leaving a district of school children,...

Exclusive: school boards should be audited, says AASA official. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).(American Association of School Administrators)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Now that school board politics is pinpointed as a major irritant for superintendents nationwide, a head administrator is calling for state mandated audits of school boards to ensure greater efficiency. Don Hooper, president of the American...

Will an extra year of kindergarten help ESL students? (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).
March 1, 2002... Superintendent Al Mijares is in a desperate situation. In the Santa Ana School District, located near Los Angeles, three of every four students entering kindergarten don't speak English. Most come from Hispanic households with parents who speak...

Philadelphia takeover: school system up for grabs. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In the showdown for control of Philadelphia's public schools, the governor has won. In fact, Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker and Philadelphia Mayor John Street, who have verbally sparred in the past, are now on amicable terms and forming a...

Chancellor and Beacon merge. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Chancellor Academies and Beacon Education Management agreed to combine forces in January. The two for-profit, K-12 education companies have become Chancellor Beacon Academies. Total student enrollment is 19,000, total schools, 81. The new...

Cyber school squabble. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).(Einstein Academy)
March 1, 2002... District administrators in Pennsylvania claim a new charter cyber school, Einstein Academy, is incorrectly billing them to cover public education costs. According to state law, districts are required to cover 75 percent of a charter school's...

Unsettled at school: judge rejects Microsoft's plan. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).
March 1, 2002... Microsoft is preparing to go to trial now that its proposed settlement plan, which would have given $1 billion in software, cash and technology to needy schools nationwide, was rejected in U.S. District Court. After Judge J. Frederick Motz...

Virginia district re-boots its iBook program. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).
March 1, 2002... Administrators in Virginia's Henrico County School District learned a timeless lesson recently: Kids will be kids. When given their own district-funded laptops, along with wireless Internet access, a handful of students will always push the...

Education tech leaders map long-term objectives. (Notebook: up-to-date and usable education information from schools, government, business, research and professional organizations).
March 1, 2002... To meet the top goal set by the No Child Left Behind Act--increased student achievement--a group of leaders came up with five main technology suggestions during a recent meeting in Washington, D.C. Leaders from the education community,...

AASA creates guild to assist urban superintendents.(American Association of School Administrators)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The American Association of School Administrators has created a new guild to assist superintendents in urban districts and those who are considering posts in big cities. The goal is to halt the superintendent turnover in urban districts. ...

Maine inks a deal with Apple.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Maine Gov. Angus King took a step closer to fulfilling his vow to outfit every seventh and eighth grader with a laptop when he signed a deal with Apple Computer last year. The deal will equip 33,000 students and teachers with iBooks. The $37.2...

NCS Pearson reorganizes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NCS Pearson is combining three K-12 product divisions under the new NCS Learn banner. NCS Learn will include the company's K-12 Enterprise Software Solutions, an administrative software product; School-CONNECT, a student information management...

Riverdeep teams with Kaplan.(Riverdeep Interactive Learning Ltd.)(Kaplan Educational Centers Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Riverdeep is joining forces with Kaplan K-12 Learning Services to train Florida teachers. Kaplan's consultants will teach educators how to use Riverdeep's online courseware. www.riverdeep.net, www.kaplan.com

Bush promises extra funding for Reading First. (Government spotlight: the latest news from and about education from the U.S. government).(George W. Bush)
March 1, 2002... In the new education bill, reading and literacy funding will rise by 11 percent. These funds will be spent in a new program called Reading First. For 2002, the program's inaugural year, Congress allocated $900 million to this program. ...

The new director of education technology has big plans. (Government spotlight: the latest news from and about education from the U.S. government).(John Bailey)
March 1, 2002... John Bailey was already planning his first big technology initiative after only a few weeks into his new job as director of the Office of Educational Technology in the U.S. Department of Education. His first self-assigned task was to meet with...

Banned books: Q&A with librarian and educator Pat R. Scales. (Language Arts).(Interview)
March 1, 2002... Q: Book censorship in the U.S. is on the rise. What factors contribute to this, and what risks does a teacher take when he or she uses banned books? A: Book censorship has been occurring in public schools for years, but we now have a...

Should Algebra be mandatory? (Mathematics).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Algebra for all? California is the latest of a growing number of states to view algebra as a course for every student, not just the college bound. Last year the state Department of Education announced algebra will be a high school graduation...

Co-mentoring: beyond one-on-one. (Mathematics & Science).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Collaborative action research, study groups, facilitated peer support, reciprocal classroom observations and electronic networks. Thanks to a mentoring program where new and experienced teachers learn both one-on-one and with others, this is...

U.S. economics assessment on the way. (Social Studies).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... What do high school graduates need to know about the economy? That's the question being asked in the development of a framework for the first nationwide economics assessment, a project of the National Assessment of Educational Progress that...

Finding pearls of wisdom: administrators haven't analyzed this New York district to death; they analyzed it to near perfection. (district profile).
March 1, 2002... For discriminating parents like Susan Rutledge, there are more than 80 private and parochial schools to choose from in and around her home of Pearl River, N.Y., just some 20 miles from New York City. "There is a lot of competition," admits...

Catalyst for action: this superintendent took over a high-performing district and--by turning their plans into action--raised student achievement levels even higher. (administrator profile).(Jerry Weast)
March 1, 2002... His resume is 19 pages. He has written numerous books and won many awards. And he's leading one of the nation's most diverse school districts. His name is Jerry Weast, hired in the summer of 1999 to lead Montgomery County Public Schools in...

Fusing standards and assessment: can technology be the glue? (21st Century Assessment).
March 1, 2002... Want to get a rise out of any education reformer? Ask about alignment of state tests and state standards. If the rolling eyes and exasperated sighing don't tell the story, just probe a little. You'll hear about state tests that have been in...

Internet health: students need to become well-informed consumers of online health resources. (The Online Edge).
March 1, 2002... Two out of three teenagers who use the Internet search for health-related topics, and one in four say they get "a lot of information online, according to Generation Rx.com, a national survey conducted recently by the Kaiser Family Foundation....

No district left untouched: for district grappling with the details of the new education law, here are the first steps to becoming compliant.
March 1, 2002... Groundwork for the recently approved education bill started simply enough. Educators, business people, parents, and community leaders in Hamilton, Ohio, met last March. This mini-education summit, called by U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio,...

District politics: tired of losing the vote on bond issues and tax levies? Find out how some administrators are hiring consultants to create winning strategies.
March 1, 2002... Superintendent Ann Moore didn't think she was doing anything wrong. Her Huntsville (Ala.) City School District needed $9.6 million more per year to maintain a variety of enrichment programs, including one for gifted students. She opted to...

Pulling the plug: thanks to 802.11b, educators are awash in wireless networking products. Is this a standard schools should embrace, or is something better just around the corner? (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
March 1, 2002... Let's face it, yesterday's question of wireless vs. wired suddenly seems outdated. In a world where you can log onto the Web while sipping a cup o' joe at your favorite coffee stop, remain connected to the campus network all day, and continue...

Iron Science Teacher: educators battle it out for the glory and take home a wealth of teaching know-how. (Focus: science).
March 1, 2002... You won't find many teachers who would admit they've played with kitty litter-and claim to have learned valuable teaching techniques from the experience. But when the studio lights up, dramatic music fills the room and the secret ingredient is...

Less is more: trimming the overstuffed curriculum: through a science curriculum "diet," districts discover that less topics could fatten students' understanding. (Focus: science).
March 1, 2002... The scenario in a typical district goes something like this: Dinosaurs, plants and other popular topics are taught year after year in the elementary science curriculum. Teachers who branch out to introduce other topics are usually responsible...

It takes time: twenty tips for making professional development a priority in your district. (Focus: professional development).
March 1, 2002... A universal truth in the life of a teacher or administrator is that there are never enough hours in the day, days in the week and weeks in the year. And professional development is especially hard to squeeze onto a filled calendar. Adding...

Cosmic Reading Journey.
March 1, 2002... **** 1/2 Sunburst Communications Inc. www.sunburst.com 800-338-3457 Grades: 2-3 Teaches: Reading comprehension, parts of speech, vocabulary, spelling Platform: Win, Mac $89.95 This new, straightforward program provides reading...

Seeds of Peace.
March 1, 2002... **** 1/2 www.seedofpeace.org 212-573-8040 Grade: 6-12 Teaches: Social studies, history, geography Platform: Win 95/98/2000/NT/ME $49.00 What do you think might happen if a group of Israeli teens and a group of Palestinian teens all...

TimeLiner 5.0.
March 1, 2002... Tom Snyder Productions www.tomsnyder.com 800-342-0236 Grades: K-12 Teaches: History Platform: Win 95/98/ME, Mac $79.95 Time takes on an entirely new meaning for students when they can "see" it, and this program offers the perfect means....

New desktop, laptop and MP3 device make learning faster and easier. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Apple, www.apple.com, hardware, iMac and iBook: $1,299 and up, iPod: $399 The more schools use computers, the more educators need and expect from those machines. Apple has several new products aimed to meet these needs. "Schools are...

Math software learning management system. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Riverdeep, www.riverdeep.net, Software/Internet, $20,000 to $40,000 per year, depending on number of licenses per school The new version 5.0 of Destination Math, a series built on a sequenced, comprehensive curriculum, features tutorials,...

Office meets Mac OS X. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Microsoft, www.microsoft.com, Software, $499 (standard version) or $299 (upgrade) Microsoft Office v. X for Mac now runs on Apple Computer's new operating system, Mac OS X version 10.1. Fully compatible with Office for Mac and Office for...

A new World Book. (new products).
March 1, 2002... World Book, www.worldbook.com, Software, $22.99 The 2002 edition of the World Book CD-ROM includes 300 new articles, 107 extensively revised articles and more than 2,500 partially revised articles. Feedback from advisors, consultants,...

Cross-curricular approaches to social studies. (new products).
March 1, 2002... SRA/McGraw-Hill, www.sra4kids.com, Books/cards, Student edition: $132.51 for 10 books, $89.64 for 10 workbooks; Teacher's guide: $10.68 for grades 1-2, $28.50 for grades 3-6 To bridge skills development to core curriculum, Social Studies: A...

Mobile computing gets better. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Gateway, www.gateway.com, Hardware, $1,199 The new Solo 1400 notebook computer includes an improved high-resolution 14.1-inch XGA TFT screen, thinner design and greater overall performance than previous computers in the Solo line. Weighing...

Science online. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Marshall Cavendish/EBSCO, www.marshallcavendish.com, Internet, starting at $595 per database, $995 for all three Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences, Encyclopedia of Life Sciences and Encyclopedia of Technology and Applied Sciences...

Computers 101. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Tyndal Stone Media, www.tyndal.com, Software, $74.95 direct download A program for computer science students in grades 10 and up, CS Solutions introduces the basic concepts of computer programming. Using visual metaphors, the software...

Economical servers. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Gateway, www.gateway.com, Hardware, $699 The Gateway 910 Series is a server for small network environments designed to handle file and printer sharing, Internet access and email. The basic configuration includes a single Intel 1GHz Celeron...

Concrete math. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Digi-Block, www.digi-block.com, Manipulatives, $289.98 for up to eight students With the Digi-Block Learning System, elementary students can see and feel the differences among .001, .01, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000. New additions to the system...

Quest toward the test. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Knowledge Adventure, www. knowledgeadventure.com, Software, $325 for 15 users, $59.95 teacher's edition Newton's Quest, available in versions for 4th, 5th and 6th grades, are 2-CD-ROM sets for Windows platforms. Each title covers a full...

New Encarta. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Microsoft Encarta, www.encarta.com, Software, $74.95 (discounts available for volume purchases) Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2002 is a CD-ROM for middle and high school level students. Combining leading multimedia reference material...

Multimedia Mac composer. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Onadime, www.onadime.com, Software, $199 Onadime Composer for Macintosh lets users link sound, visuals and movement in computer files. Users can blend their choice of images and music in real time and design customized inputs to drive the...

Back to normal. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Fortres, www.fortres.com, Software, $49 (single computer) to $210 (building site license) Clean Slate is designed to protect public access computers from malicious or inexperienced users. Without restricting users' activities, Clean Slate...

How to test a teacher. (new products).
March 1, 2002... National Academy Press, www.nap.edu, Book, $49.95 Testing Teacher Candidates looks at teacher licensure tests, evaluating the appropriateness and technical quality. It also examines the merits of using such tests for accountability and...

New Britannica. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Britannica's Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com, Software, $39.95 to $69.95 Encyclopedia Britannica 2002, available on CD-ROM and DVD, is a comprehensive, au-in-one reference source. The Deluxe Edition (for Windows only) is two...

HRTV in a box. (new products).
March 1, 2002... ViewSonic, www.viewsonic.com, Hardware, $129 ViewBox VB50/HRTV is a multimedia converter that provides broadcast TV and video entertainment connections at any computer display. CRT, LCD, plasma or projection displays can be converted into a...

20GB in your pocket. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Key Communications Technology, www.pockeydrives.com, Hardware, $249.95 to $329.95. The Pockey Portable Drive is a small, light and portable hard drive. This removable storage device connects to a PC or Mac, laptop or desktop, via a USB...

Touch and graph. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Infinity, www.infinitysw.com, Software, $49.95 PowerOne Graph v3.0 is the first Palm OS-based application to offer functionality comparable to Texas Instruments' popular TI-83 graphing calculator. Designed to turn handheld computers into...

Five-in-one projector. (new products).
March 1, 2002... NEC, www.nectech.com, Hardware, $10,995 The new DT100 projector can serve as both an overhead projector and a digital desktop projector. It can project data, video, transparencies, documents and even 3D objects at 3250 ANSI lumens. Because...

Digital professional development. (new products).
March 1, 2002... LessonLab, www.lessonlab.com, Software/Internet, Pricing varies by district size and use ($100,000 average cost for district pilot) LessonLab creates digital libraries that archive various teaching methods in classrooms throughout the...

Voices of change. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Education Development Center, www.edc.org, Book series, $15 each, $40 for set Perspectives on Curricular Change: Interviews with Teachers, Administrators, and Curriculum Developers is a three-volume series that examines how school...

Projecting here and there. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Sharp USA, www.sharp-usa.com, Hardware, $10,995 Sharp has released an LCD projector designed for both portable and stationary use. With 3000 ANSI lumens, the NotevisionP10 (XG-P10XU) LCD projector is lightweight and has an RS-232 port to...

Emotional intelligence for leaders. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Harvard Business School Press, www.hbsp.harvard.edu, Book, $26.95 Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence explores the consequences of emotional intelligence for leaders. The authors share scientific evidence...

Colleague collaboration. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Centrinity, www.centrinity.com, Software, price varies FirstClass is a tool that provides educators with one centralized mailbox for messaging and collaboration that can be accessed by any device, from any location at any time. The...

Character is a virtue. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Scarecrow Education, Inc., www.scarecroweducation.com, Book, $24.95-$35 The new publication, Teaching Virtues: Building Character Across the Curriculum encourages educators to teach character education to their students in order to improve...

Another side to the story. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Yale University Press, www.yale.edu, Book, $26.96 The Other Boston Busing Story examines Boston's METCO, America's longest-running desegregation busing program in America. For 34 years, black children from Boston's inner city neighborhoods...

Meaningful reading. (new products).
March 1, 2002... Tom Snyder Productions, www.tomsnyder.com, Software, $59.95/year (for a single user)-$349.95/year (for site license) Reading for Meaning is classroom software delivered via the Internet that was designed to improve students' reading...

A novel idea: literacy's secret weapon. (Speaking Out).
March 1, 2002... For the past decade or so, school children have been the collateral damage in the language wars. Kids have been threatened, bribed, quizzed, tested, recovered, retained and hooked on phonics all in pursuit of an elusive goal--learning to read....