Daily EducationNews.org
Thursday, April 13, 2006

Arizona Republic
Parents with high-tech careers teach math, science at schools
Because schools are often strapped for cash, making it hard to get the latest software and other technological tools on their campuses, sometimes they turn to parents for help.

Dowling's budget war betrays kids, teachers
Stonewalling the county supervisors is not going to salvage any part of Sandra Dowling's education empire. Worse, it jeopardizes the future of the very people to whom Dowling claims such a deep commitment: the district's kids and teachers.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb OKs school map
Parents threaten lawsuit after controversial rezoning approved for west Cobb high school.

Baltimore Sun
Listen up, Oprah: There are other ways to help city kids
Dan Rodricks
Dear Oprah: I know how you can help Baltimore City public school students without giving money to Baltimore City public schools. I'm sure you can afford the sum I have in mind. You could hock a couple of rings, or some shoes, and make the donation -- and make a difference.

Boston Globe
States await federal review on quality of their teachers
WASHINGTON -- Under federal pressure, most states are close to getting teachers who are rated highly qualified in front of every math, history, language, and other core class by the end of the school year. Or so they say.

eSchool News
Schools urged to teach 'spatial literacy'
Researchers call for integration of GIS, spatial thinking in K-12 curricula

Houston Chronicle
Slade defies TSU board by going public
The strategy puts Slade at odds with TSU's governing board, which ordered her in February to remain mum during the inquiry.

Inside Higher ED
Explaining the Gender Gap in Pay  
Biases beyond sex may be important factors for why female professors earn less, new study suggests.

Professor Dale Carnegie  
CUNY's Baruch College - finding many of its students savvy in business but lacking in public speaking skills - brings in expert help.

College Board Rethinks Error Policy  
Company is reconsidering rule under which it won't correct mistakes in students' favor - but not for those in ill-fated October cohort.

Los Angeles Daily News
LAUSD needs cooperation, not takeover, Romer says
With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa set to unveil his takeover plan for Los Angeles Unified next week, Superintendent Roy Romer on Wednesday urged cooperation rather than antagonism between the city and the school district.

Los Angeles Times
Details of Schools Takeover Emerge
By Joel Rubin and Duke Helfand
Villaraigosa's advisors look at extending the academic year and selling the headquarters.

Miami Herald
College stonewalls probe
By MATTHEW I. PINZUR
Many Miami-Dade teachers who took questionable continuing-education classes may never be investigated because at least one of the colleges connected to the program has not provided records, according to a memo from Superintendent Rudy Crew.

Newsday
Driver safety scam in school district

New York Times
Lawyers for Lacrosse Players at Duke Say They Expect Indictment in Rape Case
By JULIET MACUR
"We know this case is going to a trial, a jury trial," said Bill Thomas II, who represents one of the lacrosse team's captains.

Oregon Register-Guard
Crisis teams go into action
All that Lidi Webster recalls of being attacked two months ago is seeing a clunky white sneaker kicking toward her head after she'd been slammed to the floor in a school cafeteria.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Popular principal's exit riles parents
The pastor of St. Ephrem's has asked she be transferred.
By Kellie Patrick, Inquirer Staff Writer
Last year, Sister Mary McNulty was named one of best principals in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Now it looks as if she's out of her job. The principal of St. Ephrem's School in Bensalem is in a dispute with the parish pastor, Msgr. Kenneth McAteer, who has asked that she be reassigned after this school year.

Vallas: $20 million slot payoff
By Susan Snyder, Inquirer Staff Writer
Philadelphia schools chief executive Paul Vallas isn't crazy about the gambling industry, but since it's coming to Philadelphia, he wants to make sure the children derive some benefit.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
School bus squeeze: Districts struggle with high costs, larger students
Every child who rides a school bus in this state is entitled to have 13 inches of seating space. The problem is, many students, especially those in middle and high school, need more room for themselves and their belongings. 

Conservative group says subsidizing tuition for private schools would cut property taxes
HARRISBURG -- A conservative think tank has a new proposal to reduce property taxes: using state-funded vouchers to lure public school children to private schools to save local taxpayers money.

Rocky Mountain News
Minorities make up 20% of collegians
One in five students enrolled at Colorado's public colleges and universities this academic year is a minority, a five-year increase of nearly 13 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
Pawlenty's math instruction goal might not add up
Educators unsure if algebra proposal can work in practice
BY MEGAN BOLDT, Pioneer Press
Mary Hoffman's board is packed with algebra, tricky problems loaded with exponents and variables. Work it out in chunks, she tells her slightly puzzled eighth-graders at Apple Valley Falcon Ridge Middle School. Simplify whenever possible. By the time the bell rings, her Algebra 1 students usually get it.

San Antonio Express-News
Students compete in Battle of the Brains
Computer-program contest unites world's brightest students.

San Diego Union Tribune 
More Idaho districts look to four-day school week
Several rural Idaho school districts are looking at compressing the school week from five days to four to save money.

Star Tribune
School watch list is likely to grow
A change in federal rules on testing is expected to cause many more Minnesota schools to be tagged as underperforming.

Tallahassee Democrat
Boot-camp case stirs students
College students from throughout Tallahassee remembered Martin Lee Anderson during a forum Wednesday and renewed calls for justice in the case of the 14-year-old's death after an incident involving guards at the Bay County boot camp.

Effectiveness of camps at the center of debate
Two years ago, 15-year-old Charles Miller was drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and had broken into a flower farm for kicks.

USA Today 
In NYC, model emerges for fixing urban schools Focus on principals, charter schools gets results, draws national attention
Two years ago, Daysi Garcia graduated from the New York City Leadership Academy, a grueling 14-month course for aspiring principals. One final message to graduates was: Don't try to change everything at once.

Schools aren't factories Micromanaging teachers, fixating on test results won't equal success.
By Randi Weingarten
There is no question that some things have improved in New York City's public schools. Some schools have made great strides, such as P.S. 65 in Brooklyn, which owes the bulk of its success to a union-run teacher training program. Reading scores for schools using that program beat the city average by 20%.

Washington Post
U-Va. Easing Transfers
Community college students who get good grades and meet other requirements at two-year programs in Virginia will be guaranteed admission to the college.

Parents Weigh in on Middle Schools
Parents, teachers and educators offer concerns and suggestions at a community outreach session aimed at helping Montgomery County improve its middle schools.

Washington Times
Harvard study tells parties to court 'religious centrists'
By Jennifer Harper
College students are becoming more religious, and it's affecting their political views, according to a new Harvard University survey of this potentially influential voting bloc. "Religious centrists" rule, according to the university.

SUZANNE FIELDS:  Black and white at Duke
DURHAM, N.C. -- Most people know Duke University for its championship basketball teams, mostly white in an era of black domination of the sport. Duke's professoriate would prefer Duke to be known as the "Harvard of the South," a school as good as any in the Ivy League and with better weather. But now Duke is known for its lacrosse team.

Wichita Eagle
'The hum of learning'
Wichita Montessori School, where students and teachers use a hands-on approach, will celebrate its 20th anniversary April 21.
BY CHRIS SHULL, The Wichita Eagle
When you walk into the Wichita Montessori School, you can tell you're not visiting what many people may think a traditional classroom looks like.

Wilmington News Journal
Senate OKs full-day kindergarten
Lawmakers say they realize some districts may not be ready

Looking for answers
Eighth-graders crunch numbers at Math League Invitational

International Articles

The Arab News
Forum Participants Demand Physical Education for Girls
Participants in an educational forum here demanded yesterday the introduction of physical education in the Kingdom's girls schools. Ayesha Al-Shahri, director of security...

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
New powers 'will improve schools'
Local authorities are to get new powers to raise standards in poorly performing schools, says Ruth Kelly.

Teachers want to quit over abuse
A teachers' poll has found two-thirds have considered quitting because of pupils' bad behaviour.

Easter boredom 'good for pupils'
Feeling bored during the holidays could be good for pupils, giving them a chance to rest, a researcher says.

The Daily Telegraph (UK) 
Night schools could learn from cuts
The removal of government funding for evening classes could be a catalyst for improvement, writes Marianne Talbot

The Daily Yomiuri 
Kyoto, Waseda universities toast new cooperation agreement
Kyoto University and Waseda University have agreed to cooperate in research, education and international exchanges, according to university officials.

The Guardian 
Schools face tighter watch by councils
Education: Under-performers could be taken over

The Gulf Times
80 experts to attend education symposium
OVER 80 experts and 400 invitees from the education sector from over 14 countries are coming together for the second Innovations in Education Symposium (IIE2) being held at the Four Seasons Hotel from April 30 to May 2.

Medical college honours HMC preceptors
THE contribution of preceptors from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to the clinical education of medical students was recognised in a ceremony at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) on Tuesday evening.

The Independent (UK)
Councils win powers to improve poor schools
Councils are to be given radical powers to intervene in thousands of schools that appear to be successful but should be doing better.

Thatcher blamed for lack of respect in classrooms
The legacy of Thatcherism is behind plummeting standards of behaviour in the classroom and a lack of respect for authority among young people, a teachers' leader has claimed.

The Peninsula
Georgetown University marks inauguration of Qatar campus
Doha: Led by H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson, Qatar Foundation, Dr Abdulla Al Kubaisi, Director of Sheikha Mozah?Office, Georgetown University President Dr John J DeGioia, and ..............

VCUQ thanks QNB for scholarship programmes
DOHA: Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUQ) has thanked and expressed its appreciation to Qatar National Bank (QNB) for its continuing support in shaping the country's educational future through its scholarship programmes for VCUQ students, a release said.

The Toronto Star
Why are some schools tougher on unruly kids?
Toronto's public schools are handing out suspensions at widely inconsistent rates across the city - sometimes even within the same neighbourhoods. Tess Kalinowski reports.