District Administration articles from March 2005

District Administration archives from March 2005

ETS Pulliam's focus on standards drives student scores past expectations: Paramount High School showed significant improvement in almost every area.(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... CASE STUDY: Paramount High School In the fall of 2001, Paramount High School was identified as a "1-1" school. In California, that meant that the school was in the bottom ten percent of schools in the state. Even worse, it meant that...

Fixing textbook adoption.(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... Some readers may remember that last year I joined the school board in my suburban Connecticut town. Recently I've been embroiled in a debate about the district's health curriculum, what's proper to teach, and more importantly, when it's...

New gov. infuriates educators.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Education lobbyists in California say they may take Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to court over his proposal to withhold $2.3 billion in guaranteed school funds to help plug the state's $8.5 billion budget gap and over his effort to weaken a...

"Quality" stressed in ed tech plan.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)
March 1, 2005... Moving away from counting "boxes and wires," the Bush administration's 2005 National Education Technology Plan outlines a framework it predicts will transform education by promoting strategies that use technology to improve student learning,...

One-to-one in Cobb County.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... If the Cobb County (Ga.) Board of Education gives the go-ahead, this district will be the site of the largest education laptop implementation in the nation. Superintendent Joseph Redden is involved in contract negotiations with Apple...

Bush looks higher.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)
March 1, 2005... President George W. Bush is turning his second-term attention to high schools, unveiling a $1.5 billion plan to boost literacy, math and science skills, and to hold states accountable for student achievement. Educators say they welcome the...

Shift in high school education necessary.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)
March 1, 2005... Many American high school graduates are unprepared for the work world or college, according to a recent survey, and at least one education association says a shift in high school programs, challenging curriculum and continued focus on a federal...

Stripping = success.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto, Calif., were recently told they could earn a sassy living if they became strip dancers, among 140 other potential careers, according to Fox News. William Fried, a popular...

Wanted: special ed teachers.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The need for more special education teachers nationwide prompted a university in Rhode Island to create a new school. The new School of Education at Johnson & Wales University, a big business and food services school, grew out of a market study...

Funding on per-pupil needs basis.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future wants state school financing policies based on what it will cost to raise the bar and close achievement gaps. According to NCTAF's 2004 report, Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of...

Weighing more letters on report cards.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Blue Valley Television)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A new set of letter grades will be added to Texan student report cards if a Texas bill passes: BMI. A student's body mass index, which measures body fat based on height and weight and indicates if a student is overweight, would be on...

Selling schools via video.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)
March 1, 2005... Dwindling student enrollment, plans to build new schools, or luring teachers are among the reasons public schools nationwide are using video to make their cases. And we're not just talking VC!R videos, but high-tech videos accessible on a Web...

California schools chief offers P-16 plan.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Blue Valley Television)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... A new California plan recently unveiled by Jack O'Connell, the state's superintendent of public instruction, would gain five years of instruction for students, according to The Sacramento Bee. He advocates a state-sponsored and free...

Intelligent design an option.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Blue Valley Television)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... High school students in the Dover Area (Penn.) School District have a choice of hearing a statement about "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution in their biology classes. At one time, the district required the evolution theory...

New test in New England.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... One more test will be given to students who take English as a second language. Students in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire will take new standardized tests designed to reveal if their understanding of English is improving, according to...

Girls lead boys in reading, writing.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research)
March 1, 2005... Boys are no match for girls when it comes to achievement in reading and writing. Boys do better in mathematics and science. But girls are also catching up in those subjects, although they don't like them as much as boys do. The U.S....

New schools chief comes out strong.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... The new education chief is in and she's making waves. Within days of her new start, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who was approved Inauguration Day, criticized a PBS cartoon show that depicts gay couples, supported President Bush's...

Blues-fighting drug use dips.(Update: education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... After years of soaring prescription rates for antidepressants for children, fewer American children are taking such medication, such as Paxil and Prozac, according to The Washington Post. The 10 percent decline of antidepressant use last...

Is pay-off a political punching bag?(Inside the law: analyzing, debating and explaining No Child Left Behind)
March 1, 2005... Weeks after it was revealed the U.S. Department of Education paid a political pundit to talk up the No Child Left Behind law, errors in judgment have been acknowledge but the debate continues. Congress is investigating the $240,000 contract...

Comparing apples to oranges.(Inside the law: analyzing, debating and explaining No Child Left Behind)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... What's good for NAEP isn't necessarily good for NCLB. It appears discrepancies in proficiency are clear when comparing student test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the state's standardized tests. Under NCLB,...

Middle and high lows.(Inside the law: analyzing, debating and explaining No Child Left Behind)
March 1, 2005... It should come as no surprise that while elementary achievement is the big focus under No Child Left Behind, student achievement in math and reading lags in the middle and high-school grades, according to a recent report by The Education Trust....

Solid foundation = strong standards.(Inside the law: analyzing, debating and explaining No Child Left Behind)
March 1, 2005... There's some good news and some bad news. Three years into the No Child Left Behind era, English and reading standards in early grades have been strengthened in many states. Math standards in most states remain vague and too easy, according to...

To the rescue: who says chivalry is dead? This superintendent accepted a tough job and is taking the gentlemanly approach in dealing with its ugliest aspects.(Administrator Profile)(Biography)
March 1, 2005... Larry Nyland, meet your long-lost twin: Don Quixote. Only an out-of-touch romantic would charge in to lead a district boasting a divisive 49-day teachers' strike (a state record), abysmal test scores and plenty of backbiting. Yet the...

Clear channel: Blue Valley Television gives students a taste of life on the small screen.(District Profile)
March 1, 2005... With the camera rolling, 17-year-old Lara Wilinsky faced an amiable-looking older couple. It was her first interview as a journalist, and Wilinsky wondered how exactly to ask about the night the couple's daughter was murdered. "I was so...

The winner is ...(District Profile)(Blue Valley Television)(Speak Out for Stephanie)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Although the Pacemaker awards are notable, BVTV garnered an even higher honor in 2004, when Lara Wilinsky and Matt Hayward won a student Emmy for "Speak Out for Stephanie." It covered the experiences of Gene and Peggy Schmidt, whose 19-year-old...

Larger network.(District Profile)(Blue Valley Television)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... As a result of BVTV, teacher Bruce McRoberts has been able to get his students and studio staff involved in efforts beyond Blue Valley. Three years ago, he helped organize a group of broadcast instructors and their students: now more than 100...

Young and the restless.(District Profile)(Blue Valley Television)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... BVTV has had a positive effect across the district, says superintendent Trigg. Broadcast groups, in the form of extracurricular clubs, are forming at the middle school and even the elementary school levels. "There are a growing number of kids...

The science storm: some say direct instruction works best, while others argue for the discovery learning method. Surprisingly, the two camps are very close to being on the same team.
March 1, 2005... My dad taught life sciences to junior high students and college students for more than 30 years. He also taught science in the backyard, from the front seat of his car, and at the family dinner table. His insatiable curiosity and boundless...

The textbook adoption mess--and what reformers are doing to fix it: conversations about what's broken in state textbook adoption systems are increasing but still sporadic. A handful of reform-minded individuals are making themselves heard.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... Frank Wang knew he was green to the world of textbook publishing. "A few days after I defended my MIT thesis I literally got in my Honda and started driving to Oklahoma," he says. A top seat at Saxon Publishers, where Wang had helped out since...

Learning with laptops: these five examples show different ways school districts are funding laptop programs.
March 1, 2005... The idea of giving laptops to a large number of public students is officially entering its second phase. It has been almost four years since the big breakthrough, when Virginia's Henrico County Public Schools bought 23,000 iBooks for teachers...

Search & rescue: professional development programs of today search for detailed data to drive how teachers should teach and how to rescue American education.
March 1, 2005... Like a fine-tuned piece of machinery, districts across the nation are taking advantage of high-tech tools and software programs to collect reams of data on students, make sense of it all. and in the end. transfer that knowledge into successful...

Saving with packets of information:.(Problem/solution * IP telephony: this North Carolina district finds this growing trend worthwhile)
March 1, 2005... Problem: In 2003, when Carl Woody became the network engineer of North Carolina's Dare County school district, the first thing he did was feel discouraged. The equipment was seven years old, the network infrastructure could barely handle the...

Tsunami spurs cross-curricular connections.(Curriculum update: the latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies)
March 1, 2005... In the first school week after December's tragic tsunami, nearly 30,000 educators logged on to www.discovery.com to view a video about tsunami formation. "As soon as it happened, educators saw it as a teachable moment and began [scouring] the...

Bio/math duo.(Curriculum update: the latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Recent advances such as the sequencing of the human genome have resulted in emerging fields of biology. And biological ideas inspire new information science concepts and methods. Because higher education is exposing students to mathematical and...

Literacy's hot (and cold) spots.(Curriculum update: the latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies)
March 1, 2005... The hottest literacy topic for 2005 is one that experts believe shouldn't be. "Scientific evidence-based reading research and instruction" topped the list of 28 areas rated by 25 literacy leaders, mainly from the U.S. But with so much emphasis...

ESL REDEUX: when sign lanquage is first.(Curriculum update: the latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies)
March 1, 2005... Thirty-two deaf and hard of hearing students in Albuquerque, N.M., are learning literacy skills by writing in their native language--American Sign Language. The Hodgin Elementary School students use SignWriting, a written script of American...

RSS revolutionizes how districts distribute and use online information.(Odvard Egil Dyrli on Really Simple Syndication)
March 1, 2005... When the Bryan (Texas) Independent School District posted an announcement on its Web site about an upcoming bond referendum, a special Web-based Internet alert with a hotlink to the content was sent to people who signed up for the free service....

Are you ready for personal computing?(Gary Stager on the iPod Revolution)
March 1, 2005... I'm the tech industry's ideal customer. I love gadgets and spend thousands of dollars per year on hardware and software. I love to learn to use new "toys" and find ways to help teachers use those technologies with learners. But the past few...

Grade-Span configurations. (Research corner: essentials on education data and analysis from research authority AEL).
March 1, 2005... If you've read many research reports, you're familiar with the statement Further research on this topic is needed. You may have thought it a self-serving statement, coming from a researcher who no doubt dreams of additional funding. But when it...

SoundStation 2: Polycom.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.polycom.com, Hardware, $599 and up This triangular-shaped conference phone offers twice the volume capability and 50 percent better microphone sensitivity than its predecessor. People can talk in a normal voice up to 10 feet away and...

Mac mini: Apple.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.apple.com, Hardware, $499-$599 Just two inches tall and weighing 2.9 pounds, the Mac mini desktop computer has either a 1.25 GHz or 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and ATI Radeon 9200 graphics with 32MB of dedicated DDR memory. Both...

Journey of the Loggerhead: Environmental Media Corp.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.envmedia.com, DVD, Multi-site education use $89.95 The plight of sea turtles is a global issue that impacts the environment and our quality of life, yet despite conservation efforts sea turtle populations are declining. Filmed in...

Doing Good Science in Middle Schools: a Practical Guide to Inquiry-Based Instruction: NSTA.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.nsta.org, Book, $24.95 This book combines insights about adolescent learners with what master teachers know about how to shift from passive, textbook-centered instruction to inquiry-based investigations. Designed to be a comprehensive...

Drive Genius for Mac OS X: Prosoft Engineering.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.prosofteng.com Software, $99 Designed as a storage management utility that helps users take control of their hard drive, this software includes: a drive optimizer; a comprehensive repair facility for analyzing, repairing and building...

Phonics 3b-Advanced Level II: Sports Edition: Help Me 2 Learn Company.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.helpme2learn.com Software, $32.95 and up/student This software, which is PC and Mac compatible, primarily targets students in grades 3-8 who need help developing their reading and comprehension skills. Featuring a sports theme, its...

AR Summer Reading Program: Renaissance Learning.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.renlearn.com, Software, $20 per student The Accelerated Reader program is now available to some students during the summer. Students can access the entire AR Renaissance Place subscription package, including the 80.000-plus item quiz...

Science Curriculum Topic Study: Corwin Press.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.corwinpress.com, Book, Paperback $39.95, Library edition $79.95 This book aims to provide a systematic professional development strategy that links science standards and research to curriculum, instruction and assessment. The National...

The new biology: Facts on File.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.factsonfile.com, Books, List price $210/set The ability to clone an animal or genetically engineer a plant opens up new areas of biology and raises ethical questions and environmental concerns. This six-volume resource aims to answer...

Aniland, Climate Change: National Film Board of Canada.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.nfb.ca, Videos, $399, $159 The five-part video series Aniland captures more than 450 examples of laws, customs and behavior patterns observed in animal communities. Designed to offer students in grades 4-8 an entertaining inventory of...

Exe vaccine 3.04: Horizon DataSys Corp.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.exevaccine.com, Software, Free This real-time executable filter helps address the root causes of identity theft and student productivity. Its monolithic kernel mode driver stops users from installing any untrusted executable files. This...

Analyzer 4.0: Waves in Motion.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.wmotion.com, Software, $399 This cross platform solution was designed to help users document, troubleshoot and debug their Filemaker 7.0 solutions. It allows them to search for objects, hot-link to them and compare one version of a...

Testimony of the human spirit: Westchester Holocaust Education Center.(New Products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.holocausteducationctr.org, DVD, Educator set $99.95 This 117-minute, four-part documentary film was designed for grades 8 and up. It traces the history of the Holocaust through the eyes of six men and women who were children in Europe...

TestTalker 1.2: Freedom Scientific, Learning Systems Group.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www. freedomscientific.com/lsg, Software, Student 5-pack $249 In addition to English, this software is now available with French and Spanish language capabilities. It was designed to help students have more success with test taking,...

NeoPath file director: NeoPath Networks.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.neopathnetworks.com, Hardware, $29,995/single unit This appliance integrates all network file storage to provide global file access, centralized management and transparent auto-migration of live file data. It enables school systems and...

Waterford Early Math & Science, Level Two and Three: Pearson Digital Learning.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.pearsondigital.com, Software, $210 and up per student/year (volume discounts available) Designed to foster hands-on exploration and inquiry-based learning and provide a solid foundation in basic math skiffs, science content and...

Horizon Wimba connector: Questionmark.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.questionmark.com, Software, $1,498 This testing and assessment software has integrated vocal collaboration tools from Horizon Wimba, a provider of vocal solutions for education and online business. Learners can now speak into a...

Lightspeed firewall: Lightspeed Systems.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.lightspeedsystems.com, Software, $10,000 Developed specifically for the education market, this software offers multiple levels of security to create a comprehensive E-rate eligible firewall. It detects and prevents intrusions, controls...

Health for children: Schlessinger Media.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.schlessinger.com, DVD/Video Series, $29.95 each This eight-volume series for students in grades K-4 covers the importance of making good choices about health and wellness. Students model real-life scenarios and determine how to respond...

StudentsAchieve: StudentsAchieve Software.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.studentsachieve.com, Software, $10,000 and up, based on 3,000 students This learning management system was created to help K-12 teachers develop a collaborative network for educational success by helping them manage content and...

Google mini: Google.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.google.com/mini, Hardware, $4,995 This search appliance helps small-to medium-sized organizations access and manage their information while using a Google search. The device indexes all content within an organization's Intranet or...

Palm OS 5 tutorials: Atomic Learning.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.atomiclearning.com Software, Free Through a partnership with palmOne, Atomic Learning now offers one--to three-minute tutorials covering fundamental uses of Palm OS 5 personal information management applications. such as Calendar, Date...

Discovery health connection: Discovery Education.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.discoveryed.com, Internet, $995 per school/year This online library offers health and prevention content for K-12 students. It includes fitness, nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse, violence prevention and physical activity. The service...

Meeting maker millennium 8.5: Meeting Maker.(New products: the latest offerings in books, hardware, internet and software)
March 1, 2005... www.meetingmaker.com Software, $95 and up per user, plus server and maintenance fees This tool provides collaborative personal and group scheduling capabilities for school districts. Before scheduling meetings with individuals or groups,...

TIP (Textbook Inventory Program).(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... TIP (Textbook Inventory Program) is designed to be the most comprehensive textbook inventory system available. It is a tool for recording the transactions of textbooks (as well as components, test booklets, calculators etc.), at both the...

Teacher's interactive whiteboard.(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... The Interactive Presentation Manager[TM] (IPM) brings your multimedia classroom presentations to life with powerful and easy to use "Softkeys" that link to computer files for "on command launch." Using your PC and an LCD projector, the IPM...

Lower your discipline referrals proven results.(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... Since 1992, Project Wisdom has been producing a school-wide character education program that helps students make wiser choices. Join more than 11,000 licensed schools across America. It's simple. It's affordable. It works. Visit our Website for...

A field trip to the stars without Leaving Your School!(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... The STARLAB Portable Planetarium, "the universe in a bag," lets the stars come to you saving the expense, hassle and worry of field trips. In the exciting environment of STARLAB, treat students to interactive, interdisciplinary lessons and...

Improve every student's critical thinking skills!(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... Written at multiple levels in an engaging world context, this powerful supplemental program boosts critical reading and thinking skills for the entire class. Our unique cross-curricular format supports differentiated instruction and addresses...

Rand McNally Achievement Series[TM].(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... Mapping a changing world for more than 147 years. All NEW in 2004 is the Rand McNally Achievement Series[TM] digital line of Maps and Globes!! Our New Map and Globe line is Larger and Brighter than ever before! As always Rand McNally still...

Are your students making gains like these?(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... New research shows a 65% increase in fluency gains when students add Recorded Books to their practice. To maximize the effectiveness of your program, try the "listen and read" strategy with Recorded Books. It's the easiest and most...

Need a larger or smaller projected image?(Information showcase: free catalogs and literature)
March 1, 2005... Replace your projector's standard lens with one of Navitar's Buhl replacement lenses and fill your screen with sharp, brilliant images from anywhere in the room. Or choose a Navitar ScreenStar conversion lens. Simply place the conversion lens...

By the numbers on state rankings: a data bank on education trends for district leaders.(Illustration)
March 1, 2005... Enrollment Ten-year trend in total public secondary school enrollment, 1993-2003 1993-94 15,129,998 1994-95 15,750,263 1995-96 16,159,695 1996-97 16,776,032 1997-98 16,934,942 1998-99 17,183,263 1999-00 17,335,972...