Post by lilly on Jan 5, 2009 10:33:19 GMT -5
I couldn't find the article date but maybe 12/31 or 1/1? With all the country's immediately pressing problems, looks like education will continue to be back-burnered a bit
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www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-12-30-year-elementary-secondary_N.htm
Year of bad reports, worse budgets for K-12 schools
2008 IN K-12 EDUCATION
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
In many respects, 2008 was a frustrating year for schools. The K-12 system felt the economic downturn, with states and school districts cutting budgets and preparing to cut more next fall. Nearly half of districts are reducing hiring and supplies, according to a survey of administrators out last month. Take a look:
Scant attention in campaigns
Education didn't quite make it to center stage of the 2008 presidential election, despite a $60 million investment from the Gates and Broad foundations to push educational issues during the campaign. Both John McCain and Barack Obama mentioned it in stump speeches — Obama made it the focus of a key speech in Ohio in September — but the only significant mention during their three televised debates came in the final question of the final debate. Obama touted Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee as "a wonderful new superintendent" who supports charter schools (more). Weeks later, Rhee appeared on the cover of Time magazine, dressed in black and clutching a broom beside the headline: "How to Fix America's Schools." But she spent much of 2008 clashing with the local union over a stalled plan to swap tenure and seniority for higher pay.
Reading First, math instruction face critical reviews
A long-anticipated government study found that the federally funded, $1-billion-a-year Reading First program, a pillar of the education reform law No Child Left Behind, doesn't necessarily have an impact on young people's long-term ability to read (full story). Related studies also found that most of the commercial textbooks used by Reading First have little to no proof they work.
In March, a blue-ribbon panel issued a blistering report on the nation's math education system, saying it is "broken and must be fixed" (full story). The National Math Panel said children badly need both automatic recall of math facts and understanding of big concepts — and that schools must streamline math courses to focus on "the most critical topics."
The panel also issued a call for an "authentic algebra course" for many students by eighth grade. Four months later, the California Board of Education became the first in the nation to require all eighth-graders to pass an algebra test — a move blocked Dec. 19 by a Sacramento County judge who said the board didn't have jurisdiction (full story).
Policy groups demand change
2008 was also the Year of the Manifesto: Two groups in June issued dueling manifestos, with hundreds of VIPs' signatures, in advance of the political conventions. One group, backed by the Economic Policy Institute, urged a "broader, bolder approach to education," calling for more investments in children's health care, preschool and summer programs.
Another group, dubbed the Education Equality Project and headed by civil rights leader Al Sharpton and New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, slammed urban public schools for being "mired in a status quo" (full story). It urged get-tough reforms to teacher hiring, pay and assignment.
It's unclear whether either side captured Obama's heart: Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan, his pick for U.S. Education Secretary, signed both manifestos.
Any bright spots?
•Well, 2008 may best be remembered as the year that education snuck into the popular culture. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings appeared last March on the NPR program Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me, and in July she sparred with Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report— one of at least three education-related Colbert guests in 2008.
•And last month, Fox devoted an entire episode of its animated sitcom King of the Hill to No Child Left Behind, with teachers sequestering a group of average-skill students in a "special needs" classroom to keep them from lowering the school's standardized test scores.
Asked by a school board member if he has read the NCLB manual, the principal quips: "To tell you the truth, I got a few pages into it, but it's no Harry Potter."
_____________________
And here is the King of the Hill episode spoofing NCLB if you have 20 minutes to watch it. It's got enough to offend everyone - administrators, special needs kids & parents, teachers, etc. but some laughs for all too.
www.hulu.com/watch/43411/king-of-the-hill-no-bobby-left-behind
____________________________________
www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-12-30-year-elementary-secondary_N.htm
Year of bad reports, worse budgets for K-12 schools
2008 IN K-12 EDUCATION
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
In many respects, 2008 was a frustrating year for schools. The K-12 system felt the economic downturn, with states and school districts cutting budgets and preparing to cut more next fall. Nearly half of districts are reducing hiring and supplies, according to a survey of administrators out last month. Take a look:
Scant attention in campaigns
Education didn't quite make it to center stage of the 2008 presidential election, despite a $60 million investment from the Gates and Broad foundations to push educational issues during the campaign. Both John McCain and Barack Obama mentioned it in stump speeches — Obama made it the focus of a key speech in Ohio in September — but the only significant mention during their three televised debates came in the final question of the final debate. Obama touted Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee as "a wonderful new superintendent" who supports charter schools (more). Weeks later, Rhee appeared on the cover of Time magazine, dressed in black and clutching a broom beside the headline: "How to Fix America's Schools." But she spent much of 2008 clashing with the local union over a stalled plan to swap tenure and seniority for higher pay.
Reading First, math instruction face critical reviews
A long-anticipated government study found that the federally funded, $1-billion-a-year Reading First program, a pillar of the education reform law No Child Left Behind, doesn't necessarily have an impact on young people's long-term ability to read (full story). Related studies also found that most of the commercial textbooks used by Reading First have little to no proof they work.
In March, a blue-ribbon panel issued a blistering report on the nation's math education system, saying it is "broken and must be fixed" (full story). The National Math Panel said children badly need both automatic recall of math facts and understanding of big concepts — and that schools must streamline math courses to focus on "the most critical topics."
The panel also issued a call for an "authentic algebra course" for many students by eighth grade. Four months later, the California Board of Education became the first in the nation to require all eighth-graders to pass an algebra test — a move blocked Dec. 19 by a Sacramento County judge who said the board didn't have jurisdiction (full story).
Policy groups demand change
2008 was also the Year of the Manifesto: Two groups in June issued dueling manifestos, with hundreds of VIPs' signatures, in advance of the political conventions. One group, backed by the Economic Policy Institute, urged a "broader, bolder approach to education," calling for more investments in children's health care, preschool and summer programs.
Another group, dubbed the Education Equality Project and headed by civil rights leader Al Sharpton and New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, slammed urban public schools for being "mired in a status quo" (full story). It urged get-tough reforms to teacher hiring, pay and assignment.
It's unclear whether either side captured Obama's heart: Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan, his pick for U.S. Education Secretary, signed both manifestos.
Any bright spots?
•Well, 2008 may best be remembered as the year that education snuck into the popular culture. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings appeared last March on the NPR program Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me, and in July she sparred with Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report— one of at least three education-related Colbert guests in 2008.
•And last month, Fox devoted an entire episode of its animated sitcom King of the Hill to No Child Left Behind, with teachers sequestering a group of average-skill students in a "special needs" classroom to keep them from lowering the school's standardized test scores.
Asked by a school board member if he has read the NCLB manual, the principal quips: "To tell you the truth, I got a few pages into it, but it's no Harry Potter."
_____________________
And here is the King of the Hill episode spoofing NCLB if you have 20 minutes to watch it. It's got enough to offend everyone - administrators, special needs kids & parents, teachers, etc. but some laughs for all too.
www.hulu.com/watch/43411/king-of-the-hill-no-bobby-left-behind