District Administration articles from November 2005

District Administration archives from November 2005

Teachers get a better IDEA: changes in the law open new doors for at-risk students: think IDEA legislation is just for special education teachers? Not anymore.(Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004)
November 1, 2005... Last year, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), changing the playing field for both special education and general education teachers. By allowing schools to use up to 15% of their IDEA...

Finding good news in Cobb County.(computer assisted instruction)
November 1, 2005... The best thing to happen to one-to-one computing this year was Cobb County. Sure, almost every single part of the program went wrong, but that's precisely my point. Let me backtrack and cover the basics before I explain. Georgia's Cobb...

Investigation finds no propaganda but questions linger.(Government Accountability Office's report on government education policies advertising contracts)
November 1, 2005... An investigation of the U.S. Department of Education's public relations contracts found both "covert propaganda" in one contract and "no covert propaganda" in other contracts. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found...

Stat blast.(qualifications statistics)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Since the early 1980s, a dip in the qualifications of center-based early childhood workers has occurred. 30% of teachers and administrators now have just a high school diploma or lower. Source: Economic Policy Institute, Keystone Research...

Reading squeezes out fun.(District leaders stressing literacy programs in middle and high schools)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... As the pressure gets more fierce to improve reading in schools nationwide, at least one state is whittling away elective courses that many educators say keep struggling students in school to begin with. In Florida. a battle is brewing to...

Norfolk gets top prize.(Broad Prize for Urban Education awarded Norfolk Public Schools for outstanding urban school districts )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Strong leadership and solid partnership with the school board, unions and community led Norfolk (Va.) Public Schools to recently win the 2005 Broad Prize for Urban Education. It's the largest education prize in the U.S. awarded annually to the...

First grade support is vital.(teaching methods )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... At-risk children in first grade with focused instruction and with a teacher that offers ongoing feedback about their progress can have better academic outcomes than they would without that support, according to a recent University of Virginia...

Third time's the charm.(Norfolk Public Schools Stephen Jones is congratulated by Margaret Spellings and Eli Broad )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Norfolk Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Jones is congratulated by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Eli Broad for winning The Broad Prize for Urban Education and being named the top urban school district in the country....

Mass Gov. pushes $100 laptops for kids.(Massachusetts institute of Technology Media Lab)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Gov. Mitt Romney recently proposed in his overall education package offering newly developed and low-priced laptops and Internet access for every public middle and high school student in the state. The $100 laptops, developed by the...

Gov. bans fat and sugar in schools.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed bills that would eliminate most fattening and sugary foods from public schools effective in 2007. School vending machines will offer yogurt, nuts and milk, replacing candy bars, chips...

Free Web access in Maine.(Angus King donate in private fund for nonprofit foundation )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Former Maine Gov. Angus King raised $850,000 in private funds last summer to create a nonprofit foundation to offer free Internet access to Maine students, according to Stateline.org. Maine Learning Technology Foundation builds on the state's...

Charters get the big thumbs up.(Update)
November 1, 2005... As the nation struggles to reform high school and improve reading, math and science skills among students in light of global competition, a new push is on the horizon. This time it's about more school choice--and charter schools are the favored...

Global travels expose Americans to different worlds.(Update)
November 1, 2005... When high school students at ALPHA Academy in Magnolia, Texas, asked teachers what they would do to solve the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world, Principal Matt Clark knew they had something special. "These kids usually don't look past...

Study: high-stakes tests have no effect on achievement.
November 1, 2005... A recently released national study conducted by professors at Arizona State and the University of Texas at San Antonio found no evidence linking high-stakes testing pressure with student achievement. In addition, the results indicate that...

NAEP report: no child is working.(National Assessment of Educational Progress)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... In the last five years, the nation's students--and minority students in particular--have made notable gains, according to a new report from the DOE. In fact. more than half of the progress in reading seen in the Report Card's 30-plus year...

Defining highly qualified.(public high school education, teacher qualification )
November 1, 2005... Let's start with the good news: More than half of the states say that 90 percent or more of their core classes are taught by highly qualified teachers. Now the bad news: Every state has its own definition of highly qualified. Michael Petrilli,...

IBM employees go back to class.(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Within a few years, your students might learn math and science from engineers and scientists, thanks to IBM's new Transition to Teaching program, in which the company will provide financial support for 100 employees who want to switch careers....

Calm during the storm.(Administrator Profile: Roy Baker)(Biography)
November 1, 2005... Only 10 miles outside of Lincoln, Neb., far from the devastation that still haunts the Gulf Coast, Roy Baker feels the desperation of Hurricane Katrina's victims. It's impossible for him not to: this soft spoken yet determined superintendent of...

The college connection.(District Profile: Newport-Mesa Unified School District)
November 1, 2005... For students at Newport-Mesa Unified School District, flexibility is the way of the future. In a drive to give to its students what it calls "21st century skills," the district has made a flexible high school redesign one of the centerpieces of...

The aftermath: from Texas to Utah, educators, politicians and education vendors are working to help displaced students.(DISASTER RESPONSE)
November 1, 2005... As Hurricane Rita roared over the Gulf of Mexico coast in late September and left displaced children and families of Hurricane Katrina to find yet another temporary home out of harm's way, Katrina's wrath was still reverberating. Many...

Changing education--for real: summit gathers state and local education leaders and legislators to transform education to compete in a global society.
November 1, 2005... Being in the school business is so last century. Being in the learning business is what American school districts must do if they are to create critical thinkers and self-proficient workers for the 21st century. It's really, do or die. ...

Weaving a safety net: go beyond firewalls and content filters to soup up network protection--without busting your budget.(SAFETY & SECURITY)
November 1, 2005... Thanks to growing reliance on technology and increasing sophistication on the part of digital miscreants, security issues are uppermost in the minds of many districts. To fend off the worms, viruses and hack attempts that happen every day, many...

Preventing sudden cardiac arrest in schools.(Security Trends)
November 1, 2005... Approximately 7,000 children lose their lives every year due to sudden cardiac arrest, says Dick Wright, president of AED Headquarters. Sudden cardiac arrest can strike without warning. Student athletes are susceptible. If a ball hits a student...

"Slyding" into playground safety.(Security Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Each year more than 200,000 kids visit an emergency room after sustaining a playground injury. Playground industry organizations have taken action and teamed up with Weekly Reader to create the Play Smart, Play Safe curriculum for...

Safer strolling to school.(Security Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Walking to school can be great for kids. It reduces traffic and pollution and provides daily exercise and a sense of independence. Walkers arrive at school alert and ready to learn, says Connecticut Safe Routes to School Planner Francisco...

Federal spotlight.(Security Trends)(Safe Routes to Scho)
November 1, 2005... The concept of Safe Routes to Schools is reaching the national spotlight. In July, the SAFETEA Bill passed, authorizing $600 million nationally for Safe Routes to Schools projects Ten percent to 30 percent of funds can be allocated to planning...

Fast fact.(Security Trends)
November 1, 2005... A FINAL FINANCIAL NOTE? One school bus + driver = the cost of one school teacher and a classroom; less bussing could mean more teachers. Source: Francisco Gomes, Connecticut Safe Routes to School Planner

Health and safety ed in the online age.(Security Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Students in 131 Alabama K-12 schools are tuning into the Web for health and prevention education. The Alabama Department of Education and Discovery Education partnered to create Discovery Health Education. The research-based online curriculum...

Tapping technology to keep predators out of school.(Security Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Sex offenders and schools shouldn't mix. Unfortunately, they occasionally do. This fall registered offenders entered schools in Illinois and Florida, but they were stopped before they could interact with students. The two schools were...

Setting the stage for spam-free schools.(Security Trends)
November 1, 2005... E-mail spam is universal--even in schools. "Children are not protected and are receiving spain containing advertising for products like tobacco, alcohol and pornography," says Erin Barry, vice president of public relations for Unspam. ...

Radical reformer: Dennis Littky drew on his 30 years of education innovation to create a new school model. Now he won't be satisfied until he replicates it throughout the country.
November 1, 2005... Dennis Littky may be America's most important educator. After three decades of leading major school innovation in New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, Littky, along with co-founder and co-director Elliot Washor, seems to have found the...

The new urban legend: a handful of inner-city districts are paving the way for reform.(URBAN SCHOOLS)
November 1, 2005... Some call it the end of the beginning. Others the start of a third wave. No matter the name, however, there is a consensus that urban education is at a crossroads. For the past five years or more, urban districts around the country have stepped...

Little boy lost: the truth about achievement numbers for black males is staring administrators in the face. What can you do?
November 1, 2005... She wasn't looking to uncover America's secret. When Rosa A. Smith joined the Schott Foundation for Public Education in July 2001, she simply planned to study the organization's focus: shoring up girls" academic performances across the...

Do these web sites works? Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Learn what our online expert, Odvard Egil Dyrli, says is right-and wrong-with these district Web sites.(ONLINE TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2005... L'Anse Creuse (Mich.) Public Schools www.lc-ps.org DESIGN * The site presents an extensive array of useful information, but most of the pages are static text-based presentations that are not inviting, and the muted color backgrounds...

Persistent problems of porn: offensive online content assaults school users though multiple channels.
November 1, 2005... When students in Livonia, Mich., were prompted by a local radio station to visit a unique Web site with the name of their school district in the address, they were assaulted by adult-oriented content touting "75 live cams, 12 girls and no...

Letting the sunshine in: we need to decrease class size and increase expertise now.(Speaking Out)
November 1, 2005... It's hard to improve schools and make them more receptive to the needs of each student, but it is not impossible. Unlike finding a cure for cancer, there are things we know about creating more productive contexts for learning. Ted Sizer knows...

Outsourcing cleans up.(Problem/Solution)
November 1, 2005... Problem: It may be dirty, dingy and dusty, ragged, rotten and rusty, but trash is big business--billion dollar in fact. And schools generate tons of it. So, when costs began piling up for the Roseville (Calif.) Joint Union High School District...

The "write" connections.(helping students become good writers)
November 1, 2005... Writers are often thought of as solitary figures. Yet good writers know the importance of connections. Their work is to connect ideas, words and images that will, in turn, connect with readers. Research shows that helping students become good...

Handheld computers.(Computer Literature)
November 1, 2005... Handheld computers, also called personal digital assistants, are making their way into more classrooms. In past years, handhelds were more commonly used among administrators to keep track of meetings, and by teachers to log student scores. But...

High school students in Kansas studying oceanography.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... 'Oceanography is alive and well, in the center of the continent,' says Carol Williamson, science coordinator for Olathe (Kan.) Unified School District. Williamson is referring to the 21st Century Learning program's three-year geosciences...

Olathe's 21st Century Learning Programs.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Geoscience is only one of Olathe's 21st Century High School Programs. The others include aerospace and engineering, biotechnology/life sciences, and e-communication (media studies). It all started in 2000 when the district conducted focus...

Educational road trip raises barriers to geography.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... British philanthropist Robert Vallier wants to reinvigorate student interest in geography, history, math and science. To do so, he's flying his single-engine plane to landmarks and cities in every state, based on student recommendations. The...

Bringing the real world into language arts.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Traditionally, schools haven't valued the literacy experiences children engage in beyond the school's walls: instant messaging, playing video games, watching movies. But a new movement from the National Council of Teachers of English called...

America's top 10 Green Schools.(Curriculum Update)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Kermit the Frog said it wasn't easy being green, but a new report from The Green Guide naming the top green schools in the U.S. casts doubts on Kermit's claim. "Interestingly, seven of the 10 are public schools," says Paul McRandle, The Green...

FileMakerPro 8: FileMaker.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.filemaker.com/products8 Software, $299/$179 upgrade This database software features the Adobe PDF Library licensed via Datalogics, which enables users to convert attractive graphic-rich reports of their data into PDFs and e-mail for...

E-Series LCD displays: AG Neovo.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.neovo-usa.com, Hardware, about $270 The company announced a special rebate program for one of its latest products--a new 17-inch E-Series LCD display that features a 12ms response time, a brightness of 260 and a 450-contrast ratio. It...

New DVDs: Goldhill Educational.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.standarddeviants.com DVDs, $29.98 each; $160.98 boxed set These six SAT Prep programs were designed to help students boost their scores and confidence. The first three titles help take the anxiety out of test taking by preparing...

PowerLite S3: Epson.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.epson.com, Hardware, $899 This 5.6 pound projector offers 1,600 ANSI lumens of brightness and SVGA (800 x 600) native resolution. A verification tone lets users know that the power is on and that the projected image will appear on the...

LifeBook S2000: Fujitsu Computer Systems.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.us.fujitsu.com/computers, Hardware, $1,299 This notebook now features AMD Turion 64 mobile technology, which offers overall performance for 32-bit and 64-bit applications. Weighing approximately four pounds, it also includes up to 10...

Macromedia Studio 8: Macromedia Inc.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.macromedia.com/software/studio/, Software, K-12 site license starts at $2,500 This combination of digital communication tools includes the company's latest releases of Dreamweaver, Hash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute and...

Inspiration for Pocket PC: Inspiration Software, Inc.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.inspiration.com/freetrial, Software, starts from $29.95 The software offers RapidFire, ready-to-use templates and a stylus to create graphic organizers by sketching symbols and arranging thoughts directly on the screen. Special zoom...

Parent/Teacher Appointment System: PickAtime.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.pickatime.com, Online service, $2-12 per event (district discounts available) This automated parent/teacher appointment system enables schools to publish available time slots of teachers online so that parents can book convenient...

Criterion 4.0: Educational Testing Service.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.ets.org/criteriontour.html Software, $10-$15/annual student subscription The latest version of this learning tool that uses automated scoring technologies to evaluate student essays online offers increased accuracy of holistic scoring...

Meeting Maker mobile powered by Intellisync: Meeting Maker, Inc.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... www.meetingmaker.com Software, $100/standard edition This technology offers wireless calendaring and e-mail connectivity to a variety of mobile devices and can be used as an add-on module for Meeting Maker Millennium personal and group...

M280 convertible notebook: Gateway.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.gateway.com, Hardware, starts from $1,299 This PC can be used as a notebook via its full-sized keyboard, or as a tablet by using the enhanced digitizer pen input to take handwritten notes, draw diagrams and edit documents directly on...

Achievement Series/Performance Series: Scantron.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.scantron.com Online System, annual subscription ranges between $4-$12 student These are now combined in a single interface, offering a complete assessment solution for formative and diagnostic testing that's modeled after...

Office 2004: for Mac Student and Teacher Edition: Microsoft.
November 1, 2005... www.microsoft.com, Software, $149 This latest version includes Project Center, which provides a way to view and stay on top of all e-mail messages, files, contacts, meetings and tasks related to a particular project. With Word's Notebook...

BTP To Go: Boston Test Prep.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... sat.bostontestprep.com, Online/ Digital/Audio Course, staffs from $19.95/month This portable SAT test prep course can be downloaded into over 160 AudibleReady digital audio players, such as iPods, PDAs and smart phones. The audio format...

Weapons detection system: Brijot Imaging Systems, Inc.(New Products: THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN BOOKS, HARDWARE, INTERNET AND SOFTWARE)
November 1, 2005... www.brijot.com Hardware, $60,000/unit This weapons detection system uses a millimeter wave camera combined with a video camera and special algorithm software. The technology, developed by Lockheed Martin, detects guns, knives or bombs,...

Vision 4.1: DyKnow.(Ne)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... www.dyknow.com Software, starts from $60/user license This latest release enables educators to present prepared or spontaneous lesson notes that appear on computers in front of students. The software's enhancements include demonstration...

Calendar of events.(Calendar)
November 1, 2005... DECEMBER 2005 National Inclusive Schools Week December 5-9 www.inclusiveschools.org FEBRUARY 2006 AASA National Conference on Education February 23-26 San Diego, Calif. www.aasa.org MARCH 2006 ...

Good news about American education.(By the Numbers)
November 1, 2005... FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN Today, more than 60% of kindergartens attend school for a full day. Half-day Full-day 1983 68% 32% 1986 60% 40% 1989 60% 40% 1992 56% 44% 1995 ...