December 27, 2010
Buffalo Public Schools officials say they will pay local charter schools in January the reimbursement amount that the charters have been expecting since July. The public schools have been paying charter schools $10,429 per student, rather than the $12,005 that the state set last summer. "We’ve agreed we’ll make the higher payment," said Barbara J. […]
December 27, 2010
A science class full of 9- to 12-year-olds at North Avondale Montessori elementary school bundled up in coats and gloves and went outside to examine the plants on the school’s "green" roof. The project – a layer of plants that help soak up rainwater and insulate the roof – isn’t just a science lesson. It’s […]
December 27, 2010
The widespread adoption of common-core academic standards is expected to accelerate a growing movement among educators to link individualized education programs for students with disabilities directly to grade-level standards. “Standards-based” IEPs allow individualized instruction in pursuit of a common goal: helping students with disabilities move toward meeting the same grade-level academic standards that general education […]
December 23, 2010
Jill Gebeke made it a habit to reward herself with a small piece of chocolate after lunch every day. It’s hard work being a school principal, after all. But the chocolate rewards ended last month when some first- and second-graders caught her. "I thought you said this was a sweet-free zone," they reminded her. Gebeke, […]
December 23, 2010
Governor-elect Sam Brownback, working in his transitional office in Topeka, stated that he does not intend to replace $200 million in federal stimulus dollars that are set to expire. "I don’t see how we can do a lot of augmentation really anywhere", Brownback said, referencing K-12 finance. School districts were cautioned earlier this year that […]
December 23, 2010
Osceola Mills Elementary School librarian Kylie Minarchick is taking part in a new approach to teaching the arts. During a recent lesson, she spent the first four minutes and 30 seconds leading fourth-grade students as they recited four poems — as a group and as individuals. And then during a version of “Jack Be Nimble,” […]
December 23, 2010
As federal pressure intensifies to ensure students graduate ready for college and careers, researchers are beginning to go beyond identifying the subject-matter classes students need to succeed after high school and home in on the cognitive and noncognitive skills that also contribute to success. College and career readiness has become a hot political topic for […]
December 23, 2010
A study of Washington state teachers has found that deciding layoffs based solely on which teachers have the least seniority has a significant impact on students’ ability to learn, adding to a growing chorus calling for schools to take a hard look at union contracts dictating who gets to keep their jobs. The study comes […]
December 23, 2010
The West Virginia Board of Education plans to ask lawmakers for $271 million to help schools statewide move from traditional textbooks to online content. The school board wants to provide more than 300,000 laptops or other mobile devices to every student and teacher in the state. Board members also want to ensure that schools have […]
December 22, 2010
Sitting in the library during a break, two veteran teachers at Edwin Markham Middle School rattled off the names of principals who had been sent to fix the chronically low-performing school in Watts. There was Kimbell, Miller, Norris and Borges. Then came Mir-Rivera, Miyahara, Stroud, Sullivan. This year, Hernandez arrived — the ninth in 20 […]