Arizona Subpoena Seeks Researchers' ELL Data EducationNews.org

EducationNews.org

Arizona Subpoena Seeks Researchers' ELL Data 8.13.10 - The state schools chief wants the civil rights researchers' data-including the names of study participants-for use in a court case over Arizona's approach to educating English-language learners. A subpoena seeking research data related to the education of English-language learners in Arizona is drawing fire from civil rights advocates and researchers. Grading curves away from homework 8.13.10 - In a break with tradition, many teachers no longer grade homework. They prefer to calculate a student's grade point average based in-class performance, saying homework shows effort more than brains. ... Are education credit recovery programs really effective? 8.13.10 - Credit recovery is an essential part of efforts to increase high school graduation rates in urban, suburban and rural schools nationwide. But are the programs really effective? ... After Layoffs, Yonkers Trims Curriculum 8.13.10 - YONKERS - Students here will return this fall to bigger classes, limited Advanced Placement options and a dearth of electives in drama, music, cooking and industrial arts because there are fewer teachers to go around. ...

Commentaries

An Interview with Sharon Lee: Contemporary Girl Scouts 8.13.10 - Michael F. Shaughnessy - We want people to know that Girl Scouts today are doing amazing things. They build homes for the homeless. They spend a week at Space Camp. They travel to incredible places like Paris, London and India, just to name a few. Can citizens tell a good school when they see one? 8.13.10 - Never before have Americans had greater access to information about school quality. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), all school districts are required to distribute annual report cards detailing student achievement levels at each of their schools. The Brain is NOT Hard-Wired for Speech 8.13.10 - Tom Sticht - As a nation we spend a lot of time and money trying to get children to grow up and become literate adults, but we spend a lot less time and money helping children develop their oral language skills. Bouthaïna Abdelwahed Abdelsalam - making dreams come true in award-winning rural Egyptian literacy scheme 8.13.10 - A 24-year-old mother of two, Bouthaïna Abdelwahed Abdelsalam is a development leader with the Females for Families programme in Abu-Ashur, Egypt. The Governorate of Ismailia, which runs the programme, has won the 2010 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its individualized, needs-based approach to literacy and development. ... Symptom, Not the Cause 8.13.10 - Frederick Hess - I'm very sympathetic to the argument that mayoral control, done smart, can be a useful step in turning around troubled school systems. But I've been concerned about the tendency to romanticize its promise and to overlook its potential problems. The Gray Lady, Part 2: The Other Shoe Drops 8.13.10 - Peter Meyer - What seems central to Winerip's reportorial DNA is a sympathy for the little guy, whether the disabled kid or the handicapped school. Though I can't claim to have studied his writings thoroughly (nor have I communicated with him), if Winerip does have political or ideological views about the education system, it would appear that he sees the thing through the prism of leaving no child or school behind