November 29, 2010
A number of seats in next year’s round of campus assignments will be set aside for special-education students — at the possible expense of general-education youths vying for a spot at one of their preferred schools. In a report delivered to the Board of Education in September, independent auditors called the current system in which […]
November 29, 2010
Six years ago, the woman who pioneered charter schools in Nashville had to sell her house to keep the one she founded open. State laws regarding charter schools made it tough to succeed, and the school board didn’t help — one decision forced her to drop 50 students at once. Their per-student funding left with […]
November 29, 2010
An education reform gaining t raction locally has nothing to do with reading or math: It’s a plan to start the school year earlier. This change would not make the school year longer — it would just begin sooner and end sooner. The Los Angeles Unified School District hails the idea as a step forward […]
November 29, 2010
A new randomized control trial in Mississippi has found that a good kindergarten literacy program can boost disadvantaged students’ vocabulary in kindergarten by as much as an extra month of school. Early childhood programs like Mississippi’s have focused heavily on early vocabulary for decades, with growing urgency since a seminal 1995 University of Kansas study […]
November 29, 2010
After dropping for decades, average class sizes in American schools may be growing again as schools cope with budget shortfalls. Although some educators see the rising numbers as a worrisome trend, others see an opportunity for innovation. “Yes, small class sizes do help, but it’s not the only way. What we need to focus on […]
November 24, 2010
Oregon classrooms will finish out the calendar year with nonew cuts, based on the latest state economic forecast released Friday. The state brought in about $100 million more than projectedin September. It’s the first quarterly forecast in two years that didn’t sendscho ol officials scrambling to plan for lower revenues and possible cuts. "This actually […]
November 24, 2010
Last Monday, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens. The ruling applies to those who, while not Californian citizens, attended and graduated from high school in California. While supporters laud the legislation, declaring that their cause is on the right side of history and that discrimination has once again been […]
November 24, 2010
In Education Matters, the Memphis city council met and voted to pursue amediator to resolve the ongoing dispute with Memphis City Schools. A judge ruled that the city of Memphis owes the school district $57 millionthat was withheld more than two years ago. The city hopes a mediator will help work out how that money […]
November 24, 2010
School districts are being told they should expect to get anestimated $3 billion to $5 billion less in the next two-year budget aslawmakers begin wrestling with a $24 billion revenue shortfall in January. That could mean less money for prekindergarten classes, teacher incentivegrants and tutoring for students struggling to pass the states standardizedtests. And the […]
November 24, 2010
Johnny Falotico always loved goingto class. But his first two years of high school were so miserable, thedisabled teen used to pick his lip raw and pretend to be sick. What had changed was his special-education program. His parents believed it wasn’taddressing the gaps in his basic life skills – how to cross the street, […]