Subject: EdWeek Update, March 9, 2005

From: "edweek.org" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 01:04:57 -0500 (EST)

Dear David Harris,
Welcome to the EDWEEK UPDATE, brought to you by edweek.org.
(NOTE: The links in this newsletter will expire on March 22, 2005. If you are clicking on links from a previous e-mail, make sure you are logged into edweek.org.)

Advertisement

March 9, 2005
In This Issue:

Top Stories
New! Teacher Blog
The Daily U.S. and International News
TalkBack: Revamping High Schools
Agent K-12 Jobs

TOP STORIES

The March 9, 2005, issue of Education Week is now online.
Links require free registration.
Summit Fuels Push to Improve High Schools
The nation's governors adjourned their two-day summit on high schools armed with an expanded arsenal of political and financial commitments to prepare all students for success in college and the workplace.
'First Things First' Shows Promising Results
No one is calling it a miracle, but the Kansas City, Kan., district's experience with First Things First is offering hope that the redesign of urban high schools is not a lost cause. One in an occasional series on high school reform.
Texas Stands Behind Own Testing Rule
Faced with a conflict between state and federal laws, Texas officials have come down on the side of their own law and set up a possible showdown with the U.S. government over millions of dollars in education aid.
Catholic Schools' Mission to Serve Needy Children Jeopardized by Closings
The challenges of keeping Catholic schools open in working-class neighborhoods were brought home in Chicago last month, when the Archdiocese of Chicago announced it would close 23 elementary schools and merge or consolidate four others in June.
Minn. Students' Anti-War Effort Fuels Web Rumors
A misunderstanding about students' rights to express their opposition to military recruiters at their Minnesota high school sparked a flurry of accusations that spilled onto the Internet, generating a slew of angry phone calls from across the country.
Calif. School Workers Compete to Lose Weight
In what sounds like a script for the latest reality-TV show, 200 teachers, administrators, and other school employees working in San Diego County, Calif., have accepted a challenge to achieve personal weight-loss goals over the next year.
Education Department Tracks Growth in Distance Learning
Students in one-third of the nation's public school districts took distance education courses in the 2002-03 school year, illustrating such classes' growing popularity, says a report released last week by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Advertisement

Utah Legislators Delay Action on NCLB Bill
A nationally watched showdown between the U.S. Department of Education and Utah state officials over the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act turned into a political soap opera last week.
Special-Needs Vouchers Pass Utah House, Senate
The school voucher proposal that helped topple the career of Utah's previous governor last year has gotten a thumbs-up from the state legislature and is expected to be signed into law by the new governor.
Federal Officials Say N.D., Utah Teachers 'Qualified' After All
The U.S. Department of Education, after indicating that veteran elementary teachers in North Dakota and Utah might not meet the standards to be rated "highly qualified" under the No Child Left Behind Act, has given its approval to both states' definitions of teacher competence.
The Virtual Stage
A growing cadre of arts teachers is tapping into technology to spark the imagination of a new generation of students.

TEACHER BLOG

Betsy Rogers, 20-year teaching veteran from Alabama, and the 2003 National Teacher of the Year, is now working at the "neediest school" in Jefferson County, Alabama, and keeping a blog of her experience there.
In this week's entry, Ms. Rogers responds to a reader's question:
"[What] made you believe that you could make a difference in a 'failing' school?"
Read her answer, and post your comments and questions.

THE DAILY NEWS

Get your fix of daily education news from around the country, updated daily by 12:00 p.m., ET.
Read headlines from around the country on our Daily News page.
(Links to some newspapers require registration.)
This week's highlights:
How Do the New Teachers Measure Up?
Christian Science Monitor: March 8.
A Tale of Two Schools
Indianapolis Star: March 8.
SKansas to Hold Six Days of Hearings Over Evolution
USA Today: March 8.
First Lady's Initiative Aimed at Providing Stability for Youths
The Washington Post: March 8.

Advertisement

Schools Moving to Rid Mercury From Labs
USA Today: March 7.
Building a Better SAT? Yale Psychologist Thinks He's Done It
The San Diego Union-Tribune: March 7.
At-Risk Students Struggle to Meet State Standards
St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press: March 5.
British Schools Offer Lesson
St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press: March 5.
School Funding Battle Heats Up in Conn. Legislature
The Hartford (Conn.) Courant: March 5.

And from our page of International Education News, updated weekly:
China Sees Progress in Education
China Daily (China): March 2.
Teachers Plan Work-to-Rule
The Globe and Mail (Canada): March 2.
Kelly Criticised for Compromising Her Faith
The Guardian (England): March 2.

TALKBACK

This week's topic: Revamping High Schools
>From President Bush to Bill Gates, the pressure is on to fix America's high schools.

But there is little consensus over the best ways to overhaul the system, and past reformers have had difficulty wading through the social, bureaucratic, and political challenges unique to secondary education.

What can be done to fix the nation's high schools? What is standing in the way of change?
TalkBack to us.
Also, join these ongoing discussions:

Tracking Technologies
The Future of Vocational Education

The Standards Movement and Teachers

Advertisement

Agent K-12's Jobs of the Week

Assistant Superintendent, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Virginia Beach, VA.
Elementary Principal & Middle School Principal, Pittsford Central School District, Pittsford, NY.
Multiple Positions, Cherry Hill Public Schools, Cherry Hill, NJ.

You're receiving this email because you subscribed and requested news and information from edweek.org. This is a recurring mailing. To unsubscribe from future mailings, or to modify your account, please click the link below. Or you can unsubscribe from this mailing and ALL other edweek.org mailings by printing and mailing this page to the attention of "Unsubscribe Request" at 959 Skyway Road, Suite 150, San Carlos, CA 94070 USA.

>From edweek.org. This update is provided as a weekly service of Editorial Projects in Education, the Washington, D.C.-based publisher of EDUCATION WEEK newspaper and TEACHER MAGAZINE.
Copyright (c) 2005 Editorial Projects in Education