An annotated list of current events & issues related to the middle level
(updated 5/16/12)
Be sure to check back each week for a new article of interest.
This week's featured article is:
New Advocacy Groups Shaking Up Education Field
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05...
A new generation of education advocacy groups has emerged to play a formidable political role in states and communities across the country. Those groups are shaping policy through aggressive lobbying and campaign activity—an evolution in advocacy that is primed to continue in the 2012 elections and beyond.
Ed Week 5/14
School Bake Sales Draw Fire In Obesity Battle
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/04/152009167/
An American tradition is in jeopardy.
The bake sale, a staple of school fundraising for generations, is getting squeezed. The epidemic of childhood obesity is leading some districts to restrict the kinds of foods sold or to ban the sales altogether, Bloomberg Businessweek's Stephanie Armour explained on Friday's Morning Edition.
The obesity rate for children and adolescents has tripled since 1980, she told host David Greene. So in some districts, she said, "the thought is if they can get healthier food or no bake sales that perhaps they can lower that rate."
NPR 5/4
Will 'emoticon defense' disprove cyberbullying?
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2012/04/27
Even if three Indiana girls were just kidding around and used emoticons and LOLs when they discussed killing classmates on Facebook, their talk still could be considered cyberbullying if it inflicted emotional harm, experts say.
Education Week 4/27
Advocates Worry Implementation Could Derail Common Core
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/25/29
In less than three years, the Common Core State Standards have vaulted over three key hurdles, surprising more than a few naysayers. In June 2009, governors and education chiefs in 46 states pledged their support for the idea. A year later, panels of experts unveiled the completed standards. By last November, all but four states had formally adopted them.
Education Week 3/23
Access to Teacher Evaluations Divides Advocates
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/03/28/26evaluation
As the movement to overhaul teacher evaluation marches onward, an emerging question is splitting the swath of advocates who support the new tools used to gauge teacher performance: Who should get access to the resulting information?
Education Week 3/27
Technology Changing Lives Of Students With Disabilities
http://www.eschoolnews.com/current-issue/?pagenumber=39
Kyle Beasley is a smart second grader with an infectious grin.
He is also functionally blind…
eSchool News 4/12
'Pink Slime' Is Vanishing From School Cafeterias
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/education/schools-drop-pink-slime-beef
Andy Gomez, a ninth grader at Brighton High School, was not sure why hamburgers and meatballs had disappeared from the cafeteria, but he was not happy about it. "Today I just ate peanut butter and jelly," he said. "I don't like the chicken patty."
NY Times 3/24/12
ESEA Outlook Murky, Despite House Panel's Vote
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/03/07/
The future of Republican-backed legislation to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains cloudy—even after the House education committee gave a pair of measures its seal of approval last week.
Education Week 3/6/12
Policymakers Weigh Gathering More Data for NAEP
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/...
As many experts raise questions about the future of "the nation's report card," the governing board for the assessment program is exploring changes aimed at leveraging the achievement data to better inform education policy and practice.
Education Week 3/13/12
New Study Finds Parent Engagement on Rise
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/parentsandthepublic/2012
While teacher satisfaction has declined to its lowest point in more than two decades, parent engagement is climbing to new heights across America, a new survey reports.
Education Week 3/12/12
Obama to Governors: Quit Cutting K-12, College Funding
http://obama_to_governors_quit_cutting_k-12_college_funding.html
President Obama was visited at the White House by the nation's governors today, and he used the occasion to chide them for making what he sees as harmful cuts to K-12 and college spending.
State EdWatch (an Ed Week blog) 2/27/12
New Rules Planned for School Vending Machines Nationwide
http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/02/21/new-rules
Not everyone loves the policies — or the commercials — but Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's emphasis on healthier living habits seems to have had some impact on New Yorkers, who now have a life expectancy of 80.6 years compared with 78.2 years for the United States as a whole.
N.Y. Times 2/23/12
Obama Budget Touts Selective Boosts in Ed. Funding
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/02/14/21budget.h31.html
Education takes a marquee spot in President Barack Obama's last, otherwise austere, election-year budget request, with his spending plan calling for new investments in community colleges, money to prevent teacher layoffs, investment in school facilities, and funds to spur state action on teacher quality.
Education Week 2/14/12
Feds' challenge to schools: Embrace digital textbooks
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/02/01/feds-challenge
Are hardbound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools?
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Feb. 1 challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students' hands within five years.
eSchool News 2/1/12
National PBS Survey Finds Teachers Want More Access to Classroom Tech
http://www.pbs.org/about/news/archive/2012/teacher-survey-fetc/
PBS LearningMedia announced today findings from a national survey of teachers grades pre-K-12 that sheds light on the rising role of technology in America's classrooms, as well as barriers teachers face to accessing the "right" digital resources.
PBS 1/23/12
Apple Starts Selling Interactive IPad Textbooks
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=145570711
Apple Inc. on Thursday launched its attempt to make the iPad a replacement for a satchel full of textbooks by starting to sell electronic versions of a handful of standard high-school books.
NPR 1/21/12
N.H. Parents Gain Leverage to Challenge Curricula
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012
Overriding the governor's veto, New Hampshire's Republican-led legislature has enacted a new law that requires school districts to give parents the opportunity to seek alternatives to any course materials they find objectionable.
Education Week 1/18/12
Literacy Wins, History Loses in Federal Budget
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/11
The budget compromise recently hammered out in Washington breathes new life into a major literacy initiative at the U.S. Department of Education, but wipes out federal aid for some other department programs targeting aspects of the curriculum, including instruction in American history and foreign languages.
Education Week 1/1/12
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