Curriculum Administrator articles from February 2001

Curriculum Administrator archives from February 2001

CONSTRUCTION CONCERNS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Before a school administrator can think of the many challenges his or her district faces, from how to purchase and implement technology to the growing shortage of teachers, one topic supercedes all of those concerns. It is increasingly likely...

Letters to the editor.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... DO LAPTOPS HELP INCREASE TEST SCORES? I read the article in CURRICULUM ADMINISTRATOR titled, "Laptops Revisited," [November 2000, p. 35]. I found it interesting since we are thinking of installing laptops within our schools. I have one...

Experts: Poor Scores in the TIMSS Report Highlight Problems in U.S. Education.(Third International Mathematics and Science Study)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The recent mediocre results of U.S. eighth graders in an international math and science test is the result of many deep-seated problems in this country's education methods, experts say. Once again, when measured against 37 other industrialized...

FLORIDA COUNTY TEAMS WITH EDISON SCHOOLS FOR NINE NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... On the heels of its plan to take over the management of five New York City schools, Edison Schools has landed an opportunity to add nine more charter schools in Florida to its roster. Edison and the United Teachers of Dade recently...

WASHINGTON STATE PRINCIPAL CHARGED WITH NOT REPORTING A CASE OF CHILD ABUSE.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A Principal in Federal Way, Wash., was recently charged with failing to report child abuse in the case of a special education teacher's aide who had a sexual relationship with a student. Gross misdemeanor charges were filed against Fannie...

DODGE BALL MAY BE BOUNCED BY MARYLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT.(inappropriate behavior)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Claiming the game is an activity "requiring human targets," district officials in Cecil County, Md., were considering banning the playing of dodge ball. The district's Board of Education was slated to formally vote on the measure in January...

N.Y. Union Calls for More Board-Certification Incentives in the State.(New York State United Teachers)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... Less than 1 percent of the teachers who completed a national program this year certifying their excellence were from New York, the state's largest teachers' union said recently. New York should provide better incentives so more teachers...

DENTISTS AND PARENTS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SELLING OF SOFT DRINKS IN TOLEDO SCHOOLS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A group of dentists and parents concerned about soft drinks affecting student health are asking to speak with Toledo, Ohio, school officials about the number of soda machines in city high schools. School board President Larry Sykes told the...

McGraw-Hill Education and Sun Microsystems Join Forces to Launch a Pilot Program with Web-Based Educational Content and Thin-Clients.(school environment)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... McGraw-Hill Education, the nation's largest preK-12 publisher, and network computing giant Sun Microsystems have joined forces to offer free Web-based instructional content to schools that purchase Sun's thin-client computer system called Sun...

EMBATTLED TECHNOLOGY CHARTER SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT GETS SETTLEMENT.(curriculum problems force dismissal)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A recent settlement will result in paying $124,233 to the former superintendent of a Toledo, Ohio, charter school that uses only computers to instruct children. Coletta Musick was in charge of developing curriculum for the K-12 charter...

ESCHOOLMALL AND VERTICALNET TEAM UP TO OFFER WEB-BASED MATERIALS PROCUREMENT.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... In a move to expand its reach into the K-12 arena, online procurement provider eSchoolMall recently signed a strategic alliance with VerticalNet Markets, a business-to-business e-commerce enabler. According to officials, the alliance makes...

MDR: SCHOOL COMPUTER INVENTORIES NEARLY DOUBLE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.(Market Data Retrieval Div.'s Technology in Education 2000 report)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... For the five years from 1994-95 through 1999-00, the quantity of computers used for instruction in U.S. classrooms nearly doubled from 4.9 million to 9.8 million, according to "Technology in Education 2000," a research report by the Shelton,...

DETROIT STUDENTS STRANDED BECAUSE OF COMPUTER GLITCH.(bus computers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Some students who ride Detroit's city buses to school were left stranded on street corners because a computer glitch rejected their bus passes. The plastic cards, which were purchased by the school district and issued to students, were...

SEVERAL UTAH SCHOOLS RECEIVE MONEY TO RUN SCREENSAVERS WITH ADVERTISEMENTS.(Commercial Concepts Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... In a move that has already generated more than $3,000 for three schools in a month, several schools in Utah are being paid to run screensavers with advertising on classroom computers. Commercial Concepts of Salt Lake City produces the...

NCTM: HIGH-STAKES TESTING GETS LOW GRADES.(National Council of Teachers of Mathematics responds to single test usage)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The use of a single objective test to determine course credit, grade placement or promotion, graduation, or placement in special groups is a serious misuse of such tests, according to a position statement released by the National Council of...

PROGRAM ENCOURAGES GIRLS' PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCES.(National Science Foundation and Rice University)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... It's not too often that students get to spend time one-on-one with architects, medical residents, college professors and research scientists. However, during the past three years, female students in the Houston Independent School District have...

PAYING FOR ARTS PROGRAMS THROUGH FUNDRAISING.(Fotobug)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Facing cuts in arts education spending for the past 20 years, many communities are now fighting back. High schools, parents and the children themselves regularly raise money to pay for these activities. Some examples include a percussionist...

HOT TOPICS DRAWN FROM TODAY'S HEADLINES.(Teachers' Guide for using the Professional Cartoonists Index; editorial cartoons available online)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The Teachers' Guide for using the Professional Cartoonists Index is a Web resource that brings together current events, as interpreted by leading editorial cartoonists, with engaging activities for classrooms to discuss and analyze the news....

REPORT BLASTS WHOLE-LANGUAGE APPROACH.(Louisa Cook Moats; Thomas B. Fordham Foundation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A new report sponsored by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation concludes that the whole-language approach to teaching reading is demonstrably ineffective and should be "rooted out" from reading classrooms. "Almost every premise advanced by...

REFORMING PROVIDENCE'S SCHOOLS.(Diana Lam, Providence School Superintendent)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... New Superintendent Diana Lam is using instructional guides to help improve teaching--and learning. A couple of stragglers make their way into the classroom as the school bell rings signaling the start of another day. Teachers close their...

Technology Turnaround.(North Carolina's Wilson County School District's five year plan paying achievement dividends)
February 1, 2001... A North Carolina district improves students' learning and boosts staff morale by upping its computers and connectivity. When Wilson County School District in North Carolina developed its first five-year technology plan in 1995, its high...

WHEN SUDDEN GAPS OPEN IN SOLID GROUND.(costs of educational technology obsolescence)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Even cutting-edge schools can fall behind if their leaders don't pay attention. Since the early days of educational technology, there have always been the superstar schools--those places where the combination of leadership, inspiration and...

EDUCATION LABWORK.(location and description of the 10 Regional Educational Laboratories)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Get to know the vast leadership resources of the nation's regional educational labs. Whenever educators seek research-based education information to develop, implement or evaluate a new curriculum, design a staff development program, or...

From Promise to Practice.(Web-based Education Commission's report: "The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice")
February 1, 2001... A new federal report calls for school districts to make technology an integral part of the education they offer Four years after starting the E-rate program, which doled out $6.4 billion to help schools and libraries to connect to the...

Web-based Education Commission.(members list)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Honorable Bob Kerrey (Chair) United States Senator, Nebraska Patricia S. Abraham Professor Department of Technology and Education, Mississippi State University George Bailey Assistant to the Vice President for Research...

School Architecture In the 21st Century: Three Case Studies.(Lake Orion High School, Lake Orion, Michigan, Beebe School, Malden, Massachusetts, Fishback Creek Public Academy, Indianapolis, Indiana)
February 1, 2001... As building projects increase exponentially across the country, these three-award-winning schools demonstrate a perfect combination of form and function. What should the school of the future be? There are many possible answers. Should it...

UNDER CONSTRUCTION.(increases in school building and renovation projects)
February 1, 2001... Old buildings and a baby boomlet have combined to push K-12 school building projects--and costs--to record levels. The U.S. economy may be heading for a slump, but there's at least one sector where business is booming. School...

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT in a High-Tech World.(teacher training in educational technology)
February 1, 2001... Bringing technology into the classroom requires a new approach to staff training. When it comes to technology integration, professional development can only be deemed successful if teachers can make a connection between technology,...

TRAINING WITH A PURPOSE.(Pepperdine University's Master of Arts in Educational Technology)
February 1, 2001... Pepperdine's immersive program allows educators to use acquired skills to achieve goals. A lack of teacher professional development is routinely cited as the greatest need facing education today. And for two decades, the top priority in...

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks.(resources for teacher training online)
February 1, 2001... Here's an overview of online professional development options. Professional development for educators has long been conducted through on-site training or workshops at central locations. This method offered the benefits of group...

Curriculum Web Site Awards 2001.
February 1, 2001... STEPPING UP TO NEW LEVELS * The Arts * Language Arts & Literature * General Curriculum * Health, Nutrition & Physical Education * Social Studies * Mathematics * Science By now, everyone involved in education...

ONLINE now.(educational Web sites)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The Wonders of Science Have you ever wondered whether a human head continues to function after decapitation? Neither did I, but when the question was posed at newscientist.com, I just had to find out. (You'll have to visit the site...

WARREN buckleitner.(School Zone Interactive, GeoSafari Knowledge Pad, LEGO Alpha Team)(Software Review)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
February 1, 2001... Math 2 (*****) School Zone Interactive, www.schoolzone.com, 800-253-0564 Grade: 2 Teaches: Math, addition, subtraction, place value and counting Platform: Win, Mac OS, $19.99 For second graders seeking extra math practice, this is a...

INFOline.(school competitions)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Awards Program Seeks Creative Inventions The Craftsman/National Science Teachers Association's Young Inventors Awards program is calling for entries from students in grades two through five and six through eight. The national program...

new products TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS.
February 1, 2001... Exploring The World Through The Web MarcoPolo Site Offers Quality Content, In-Depth Teacher Training The great explorer Marco Polo opened new vistas to the medieval mind when he told of the cultures and ideas he encountered on his...

Bulletin Board.(educational resources, technology, software)
February 1, 2001... free catalogs and literature Recorded Books, LLC Over 2,500 complete and unabridged audio-books for a multi-sensory or alternative approach to reading. Ideal support for "at risk," ESL, special needs, and inclusion students. All titles...

PRODUCT literature.(educational resources)
February 1, 2001... Free catalogs and literature MILLBROOK PRESS Millbrook Press' catalog offers a wide array of materials for students. It features biographies, social studies, mathematics and science books. And within each category lies a range of subject...

HELPING EDUCATION THROUGH COMPETITION.(author suggests opening public schools to free market will improve quality of education)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Forcing districts to vie for students will improve the education they offer. Competition is mostly a good thing. It produces winners and losers and it rejects equal outcomes for all. What's wrong with that? Based on fair rules, competition...