District Administration articles from May 2005

District Administration archives from May 2005

Engaged students, involved families, and dramatically improved scores: LeapFrog SchoolHouse [TM] Literacy Center Intervention: Pinewood Elementary, Charlotte, North Carolina.(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... In many ways Pinewood Elementary School was an ideal testing environment for the LeapFrog SchoolHouse multisensory, research-based supplemental early literacy curriculum called The Literacy Center. Before the program was introduced, the school...

Defending my state: sure Connecticut has a large gap between white and black students. But Texas' gap shrunk mostly because its white students did worse on the latest NAEP tests.(National Assessment of Educational Progress)(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... Call it state pride. But when the fight between Connecticut (where DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION is based) and the federal Department of Education started, at least one argument got my attention. As you probably know by now, Connecticut's...

Connecticut: we will sue over NCLB.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)
May 1, 2005... Connecticut is on the verge of becoming the first state in the country to challenge President Bush's No Child Left Behind law in court, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced in early April. Blumenthal said a lawsuit is being...

Studying emotional needs in wake of Minnesota tragedy.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The March fatal shooting spree that killed six students and two school staff members at Red Lake High School in northern Minnesota warrants more attention to school bullying, according to the Committee for Children, an international nonprofit...

Financial scandals call for more training, scrutiny.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)
May 1, 2005... The theft of millions of dollars in school funds in a tiny Missouri school district and a wealthy suburban district outside New York City has school officials across the nation taking a second look at how to keep better tabs on district...

TV and music are so last year.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A national survey found that children and teenagers are spending less time with "old media" such as TV, print and music, and more time using "new media" like computers, the Internet and media games. The Kaiser Family Foundation survey,...

Starting early to reach high goals.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Academic achievement)
May 1, 2005... High school administrators may sometimes wonder what planet their teenagers are from. So after the Philadelphia's School Reform Commission approved a Small Schools Transition Project, intended to offer small-school, college prep environments,...

Kentucky prohibits junk food in schools.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... New nutrition and exercise standards in schools are supposed to reduce growing child-obesity statistics in Kentucky, thanks to a new law, according to the Herald-Leader newspaper. The junk-food measure, passed in March, follows three years...

The new SAT: students show off skills.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Testing student's writings)
May 1, 2005... Believe it or not, after extensive media coverage of the new SAT and its new essay, which was expected to instill great fear in all students, there has been lot of positive discussion about the test, which was administered the first time on...

Report: Principals need more guidance for success.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(training of school administration)
May 1, 2005... Creating good educational leaders is key and a leading educational think tank recently released a policy brief calling just for that. "The problem related to attracting and retaining qualified administrators are problems related to...

Largest downsizing in one year.(Detroit Public Schools closing 34 schools)
May 1, 2005... Few school districts want such a claim to fame. Detroit Public Schools is closing 34 schools in June, marking the largest downsizing in one year. But when facing a $200 million budget deficit, you can't dismiss a plan that saves $10 million...

New report shows distance education is rare.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(schools surveyed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A new study shows that only a third of schools have students that take distance education courses while it's scarce at elementary, middle and junior high school levels, according to the National Center on Education Statistics. "To equip...

Forecasting graduation via sixth grade traits.(update: Education news from schools, businesses, research and government agencies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A new study found that 4 out of 10 Philadelphia students who will not graduate from high school could be identified by their sixth-grade traits, leading to new overhauls in education in the middle grades, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer....

Change coming to No Child Left Behind.(Inside the Law: Analyzing, Debating and Explaining No Child Left Behind)(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)
May 1, 2005... A fundamental change in how the Education Department enforces the No Child Left Behind act could affect the education of millions of students as states seek federal approval on everything from teacher quality to the measuring of student...

Educators, critics assess meaning of test boycotts.(Inside the Law: Analyzing, Debating and Explaining No Child Left Behind)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Given a few American students who have refused recently to take required state assessment tests, some educators and critics are assessing the significance. With his parents' permission, Macario Guajardo, a fifth grader in Edinburg, Texas,...

Does NCLB leave some children behind?(Inside the Law: Analyzing, Debating and Explaining No Child Left Behind)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... What happens to struggling students in schools that make adequate yearly progress under NCLB? Are they left behind? NCLB is making it worse for some students because resources are directed to schools not making AYP instead of individual...

California reaches uneasy compromise.(Inside the Law: Analyzing, Debating and Explaining No Child Left Behind)(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)
May 1, 2005... An agreement with federal education officials over how California can measure adequate yearly progress and still comply with No Child Left Behind Act has allowed the state to reduce the number of school districts on its watch list. The...

Being fair to NCLB.(Inside the Law: Analyzing, Debating and Explaining No Child Left Behind)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Considered the best hope for the nation, the No Child Left Behind law has gotten an undeserved bad rap, say a handful of organizations. Several groups say the law's debate has been unfair, so they created a new organization, The Achievement...

This nice guy finishes first: Monte Moses takes the big award at AASA and vows to keep improving his district.(Administrator Profile: Monte Moses, Cherry Creek Schools, Colo.)(American Association of School Administrators, Superintendent of the Year )(Editorial)(Biography)
May 1, 2005... Can a person be both humble and still confident in his or her abilities at the same time? Sure. For proof look no further than Monte Moses, the superintendent of Cherry Creek Schools in Greenwood Village, Colo. When Moses was named...

Healthy directions: the 'new PE' tackles childhood obesity, stretches the mind and body and maximizes human and financial resources.(District Profile: Jordan School District, Sandy, Utah)
May 1, 2005... Monte Vista Elementary students are running in class. And jumping. And stretching. Teachers not only look on, but encourage the behavior. The 3-6 grade teachers are guiding students through targeted exercises and games as part of the Early...

Selling your schools: learn how good public relations can alleviate community fears, help support long-term projects, and boost local property values.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... Terry Abbott of the Houston (Texas) Independent School District had to do it. Instead of crossing his fingers hoping the press wouldn't catch wind of the bad news, which some district spokespeople might have done, the district's press secretary...

Partnership drives 1-to-1 wireless learning in Michigan.(1-to-1 Computing)
May 1, 2005... When Michigan was ready to implement its vision of 1-to-1 learning statewide through the Freedom to Learn (FTL) initiative, it chose Hewlett-Packard as its single technology provider. Now, thanks to a four-year, $68 million contract, middle...

Looking at the freedom to learn program through different lenses.(1-to-1 Computing)(education policy of Michigan)
May 1, 2005... The excitement in Michigan's middle schools is around the Freedom to Learn program, a 1-to-1 wireless laptop initiative envisioned initially in 2001 by Rick Johnson, Michigan's former Speaker of the House. Today, about 20,000 Michigan middle...

Keys to managing a statewide technology innovation program.(1-to-1 Computing)
May 1, 2005... The Freedom to Learn program is a statewide change agent designed to foster improvements, especially at high-need, high-priority schools. Originally, the idea of every Michigan sixth-grader (132,000 students) participating in the program was...

Rick Johnson: a speaker and doer for technology, teaching and learning.(Freedom to Learn)
May 1, 2005... Rick Johnson fueled the synergy that became the Freedom to Learn 1-to-1 wireless learning program. As a legislator, the former Speaker of the House dedicated much of his public time to community schools. It was during those visits that he...

Students to scholars--byte by byte.(Case Study: Whittier Middle School)(Laptops in schools)
May 1, 2005... Freedom to Learn is a partnership with the state of Michigan, HP and high-priority school districts that provides wireless laptops to students in a 1-to-1 ratio. As a part of Michigan's education bill, FTL has been designed to improve both...

Laptop initiative creates equal educational opportunities.(Bear Lake Middle School)
May 1, 2005... The Freedom to Learn program has dramatically changed the physical and mental climate of our school and classrooms. It has created equal educational opportunities for all of our students. The three-year journey was met with many stresses and...

Do clothes make the student?
May 1, 2005... When the Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District required its K-8 students to begin wearing uniforms in 1994, it wasn't clear whether the new policy would become just the latest clothing fad or something more lasting. Eleven years later,...

A (not so) hard bargain: contract negotiations have become a whole lot less contentious in many districts today, as the tenets of interest-based bargaining take hold.
May 1, 2005... Arnie Glassberg was perfectly happy for more than 20 years as an assistant superintendent. No superintendent rungs need be added to his career ladder, he swore to family and friends. He had been around long enough to witness the agony of...

Faster, cheaper, better: distance education is no longer the next great phase of K-12 education. Acceptance is growing, technologies are improving and demand is rising.
May 1, 2005... Liz Pape vividly remembers the first time she conducted a presentation on the benefits of K-12 distance education courses. It was at a 1997 national conference for school administrators. The audience's reaction was anything but enthusiastic....

Getting wired: learn how this Cincinnati-based district dramatically altered the way it teaches students through a host of cutting-edge technologies.
May 1, 2005... When Mariemont started planning its technology implementation five years ago, the superintendent and other administrators realized that a computer lab and a network were far from enough. The Cincinnati-based K-12 district had grander visions...

Do these Web sites work? Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Learn what our online experts, Odvard Egil Dyrli and Gary Stager, say is right--and wrong--with these district Web sites.
May 1, 2005... Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Maryland) www.aacps.org DESIGN * This site presents useful information on one of the 50 largest school systems in the U.S., but the opening screen does not specify the state or town where the...

Lessons to learn: U.S. vs. Singapore math.(mathematics education comparison)
May 1, 2005... When a particular country comes out on top for student achievement in a well-known international study, educators are bound to be talking about what that country might be doing right. But singing the praises of Singapore, which ranked first in...

Brighter days for First Amendment education?(Curriculum Update: The latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies)
May 1, 2005... Students aren't learning it, or aren't learning it well. When quizzed on the First Amendment, 75 percent of high schoolers think flag burning is illegal. Nearly half believe the government can restrict indecent materials on the Internet. ...

From lost to found.(Problem/Solution * Textbook Loss: A look at how one district is using a textbook management system)
May 1, 2005... Problem: It sounds like a Nancy Drew novel: The Case of the Missing Books. Except, for the Lee County School District in Fort Myers, Fla., the problem was all too real. During a standard review of costs by the governor's task force, a process...

Odvard Egil Dyrli on web furling: this new service simplifies saving, searching and sharing online content.
May 1, 2005... After a demonstration of Furl at a professional conference, Jim Wenzloff was so taken with the powerful new online tool, he wrote a Guide to Furl for his district Web site. "Furl allows you to save anything you view on the Web and share it with...

Gary Stager on high-quality online education: how to make your online courses better than your traditional classes.
May 1, 2005... The great scientist, Marvin Minsky, once said, "Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good. It would be the end of everything we know." For the sake of this article I'd like to play with Minsky's words and say, "Imagine if online...

Health education check-up.(role of health education in addressing student health issues)
May 1, 2005... While reports of rising childhood obesity rates have prompted schools to examine what gets served in the cafeteria and in school vending machines, interest in student health has not yet sparked a revolution in what gets served in the classroom....

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 professional: Adobe.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.adobe.com, Software, $449 This latest version can include virtually anyone in an electronic review of a PDF document by enabling access to commenting tools in its free reader 7.0 software. Users can provide feedback on a PDF file that...

705iR amplification system: LightSpeed Technologies, Inc.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.lightspeed-tek.com, Hardware, $750 This wireless audio system transmits an instructor's voice to a small amplifier unit via infrared light. The teacher's voice is then evenly distributed throughout the classroom, allowing every student...

PowerPro PA-916: Califone International, Inc.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.califone.com, Hardware, $1,650 This wireless presentation system reaches up to 1,000 people and can serve between 3,000 and 10,000 people with wireless companion speakers. As a self-contained, complete sound system, it comes on wheels...

IPL T PCS4 power control and current sensor: Extron Electronics.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.extron.com Hardware, $995 This product was designed for flexible, centralized, Web-based power management. Besides four 120VAC outlets, it offers preloaded control pages for Web-based monitoring, scheduling and control...

iWork '05: Apple.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... www.apple.com, Software, $79 This productivity software was designed to take advantage of both Mac OS X and iLife '05 to help users create, present and publish professional-looking documents and presentations. The software includes Pages,...

Visibooks: Visibooks.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.visibooks.com Books, $1.95 and up per title These computer how-to books use illustrations instead of text to walk people though common tasks. They contain less than 5,000 words, about one-tenth as much text as typical how-to...

Hi-Wire: GrandTec.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.grandtec.com, Hardware, $199 This PC to HDTV converter inputs via a standard VGA connection at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 and outputs via standard component video via 480p, 720p or 1080i for display on any HDTV. The high definition...

Class Server 4.0: Microsoft Corp.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.microsoft.com Internet, $2 and up per student Designed for grades K-12, this learning management platform helps teachers create, deliver and grade standards-aligned assessments and lessons over the Web. They can track, analyze and...

M460 notebook series: Gateway.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.gateway.com Hardware, $899.99 and up This wireless notebook was designed for maximum battery life, offering a wide range of advanced battery options. It provides from four to seven hours of battery life on a single charge and...

Voice video interface units: Polycom, Inc.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.polycom.com Hardware, starts from $1,999 This series of appliances offer a scalable way to support communications between organizations and across the Internet without sacrificing network security. They provide optimized bandwidth...

Is capitalism good for the poor? Foundation for Teaching Economics.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.fte.org Curriculum, Free This CD-ROM curriculum package contains five lessons for secondary school teachers focusing on the institutions of capitalism and their ability to promote or inhibit wealth producing economic growth. ...

Ballard & Tighe.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.opd.ballard-tighe.com Courses, $139/one-unit course This Web site offers a series of self-paced, professional development courses to administrators and teachers of English Language Learners in an online format. The courses include...

CourseWizard 5.2.: Waves in Motion.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.coursewizard.com Internet, $3,175 and up/year, plus $600 one-time activation fee for hosted version This online registration system was designed to simplify the administration of professional development programs, address school...

Pro ink attachment: ViewPlus Technologies, Inc.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.viewplus.com, Hardware $3,995 This technology adds ink print to Braille text and tactile graphic documents, allowing Braille documents to be shared with sighted colleagues and teachers. The device prims the corresponding ink characters...

ADM2000 Principalm: ACE Software.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.acesoft.com, Software, $495-$1045 per building, plus $210 per building annual maintenance When used with a Palm OS-based PDA, administrators can access critical data about students, such as emergency phone number or a counselors' name....

iHEAT 8.03: FrontRange Solutions.(FOCUS: Presentation Systems, A/V, Multimedia)
May 1, 2005... www.frontrange.com, Software, One-time license: $1,500-$3,500/seat The latest version of this software for IT support and management provides real-time remote access using a Web browser without any additional plug-ins. It was designed to...

By the numbers on year 3 of NCLB: a data bank on education trends for district leaders.(No Child Left Behind Act)
May 1, 2005... Student Achievement Percentage of districts that report student achievement on the state assessment used for NCLB is: Improving 72% The same 22% Declining 6% Note: Table made from pie chart. IMPROVEMENT...