News Items for High School Leaders

This Month’s Featured News Items (11/06)

These online news items are selected for their timeliness and relevance to high school principals. They are chosen to stimulate thinking, reflection and conversation about topics of contemporary interest in America’s high schools.

10-19-06 Christian Science Monitor
“ How Students Can Break the ‘Code of Silence’”
[Anonymous student reporting important strategy in stemming school bullying and violence.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1019/p15s01-legn.html

10-12-06 Christian Science Monitor
“ How to Make US Schools Safe”
[Conference focuses on “human face of the solution” in wake of school violence.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1012/p03s03-ussc.html?s=widep

10-04-06 Detroit News
“ Is School Violence Inescapable?”
[“Despite growing number of campus safety measures, experts can't pinpoint what causes it.”]
http://tinyurl.com/y6mera

10-03-06 MSNBC
“ Does Every School Need a Metal Detector?”
[“Experts say schools rely too much on physical security.”]
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15111439/

0-04-06 NPR
“ School Shootings in Rural Settings”
[Violent crime, is more common is urban settings yet, in recent shooting, all have occurred rural areas.]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6193885

03-26-06 NPR
“’ Columbinus’ Puts School Shootings on Stage”
[Maryland theatre presents drama on “teen angst and disaffection” leading to violence.]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4562676

10-09-06 TIME
“ Bush Takes On School Shootings”
[Schools needs to plan ahead for school violence, but one group says prevention isn’t on the table of conference topics.]
http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,1544388,00.html

10-03-06 MSNBC
“ 10 Myths About School Shootings”
[2002 report outlines what we know and don’t know about school shooters.]
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15111438/

10-03-06 Washington Post
“ At the Head of Some Classes, Desks Dismissed”
[Teachers step from behind desks as they change to less traditional teaching.]
http://tinyurl.com/lhac3

09-06 Civil Rights Project
“ Data Proposals Threaten Education and Civil Rights Accountability?”
[Report outlines negative impacts of “multiracial” status.]
http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/2006/naep.pdf

10-04-06 Education Week registration required
“ Diversity on the Docket”
[High court to hear cases on constitutionality of race-based school assignments.]
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/10/04/06race.h26.html

10-13-06 Salt Lake Tribune
“’ No Excuses!’ Rally Urges More Fiscal Support for Utah Public Education”
[State faces “silent crisis” says state education association president.]
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_4485993

10-13-06 Des Moines Register
“ Ankeny High School Students Get to Practice as Teachers, Too”
[Teacher Academy helps students decide if they want to become teachers.]
http://tinyurl.com/yldeq5

10-09-06 Mail Tribune (OR)
“ Owning Their Education”
[Principal knows administrators don’t always know best and listens to student advisory council.]
http://tinyurl.com/ygam7o

10-07-06 Los Angeles Times registration required
“ Despite U. S. Sweep of Nobels, Science Teachers are Worried”
[Students showing poor grasp of science “on such issues as stem cell funding and global warming.”]
http://tinyurl.com/yjoocw

10-08-06 San Francisco Chronicle
“ After Years of Teachers Piling It On, There’s a New Movement to Abolish Homework”
[AP Economics instructor has no homework, but students score 94 percent passing rate on exam.] Note: Podcast included.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/08/ING0FLHNM21.DTL

10-02-06 The Daily Review (CA)
“ Principals Get Up to Speed”
[“Program trains urban school leaders to understand norms.”]
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_4429494

10-13-06 Detroit News
“ U. S. Reputation Nags at Students”
[Students sound off on the need for more in-depth information on issues that threatened the nation.]
http://tinyurl.com/yzjek8

10-03-06 The Oregonian
“ Success with the Small-School Model”
[Even with struggling race relations, teacher attention and higher expectations part of mix for success.]
http://tinyurl.com/yju6uq

10-05-06 Dallas Morning News
“ Study: Hispanic Students in Texas Increase 43%”
[Largest student population growth since baby boom see non-white students populations increase, while white population decreases.]
http://tinyurl.com/ha5fg

10-10-06 Washington Post
“ The Rise of the Testing Culture”
[Expert in assessment and measurement says, “[testing] has a lot more momentum than it should.”]
http://tinyurl.com/mygf9

10-011-06 Detroit Free Press
“ Schools Must Teach Evolution”
[Intelligent design loses to evolution in science curriculum, according to state board ruling.]
http://tinyurl.com/ymnp27

10-11-06 New York Times registration required
“ Despite a Doctorate and Top Students, Unqualified to Teach”
[Prohibitive cost of $15,000 to become NCLB “high qualified” leads teacher to private school.]
http://tinyurl.com/yzdhxv

10-120-06 Seattle Times
“ Creative Learning is Part of Better Student Performance”
[Opinion piece emphasizes the importance of arts in preparing 21st Century students prepared for global competition.]
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/288320_artseduc12.html

10-06 National School Boards Journal
“ Learning and Gender”
[The perspective of gender may encourage teachers to teach “all children.”]
http://www.asbj.com/current/coverstory.html

10-09-06 Hartford Courant
“ Teaching Strategy Yields Results”
[Districts show gains in data-driven decision making, however, as one educator says, '… it took three years to see those little islands of success.”
http://tinyurl.com/ya7kcu

10-12-06 Cincinnati Enquirer
“ Too Many Charter Schools Failing”
[Three national charter school organizations calls for review of state’s charter system.]
http://tinyurl.com/yhu3dg

10-12-06 Silican.com
“ Google Turns into Teachers’ Pet”
[New educator site offers 3D modeling software, blogging, and geographical search tools, as well as a Google certified teacher course. http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39163143,00.htm

10-11-06 Mercury News
“ Gates Foundation Giving $30 Million for Charter Schools”
[Charter foundation says “low-income students in the charter schools it supports were outperforming students in their host districts by 36 percent in math and 52 percent in reading.:]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15729774.htm

10-01-06 MacWorld News
“ Language Learning in China: Podcasts Spoken Here”
[Teacher-founded website now rates one of the five most popular podcast websites in the world.]
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/53356.html

10-02-06 Philadelphia Inquirer
“ Vocational Education Poised for Comeback”
[Career academies gains momentum to connect students with real-world jobs.]
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/15658503.htm

10-13-06 Rocky Mountain News
“ Innovative School Stirs Anger of Some”
[Online centers offer alternative for at-risk youth.]
http://tinyurl.com/ycnmg6

10-16-06 Financial Times (India/Bloomberg)
“’ 60% of US High School Students Cheat, 28% Steal, Study Finds”
[Concerns mount over preparing youth for future leadership.]
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=143554

10-14-06 Seattle Times
“ Teachers are Reaching Out to Students with a New Class of Blogs”
[Blogging changing the way teachers manage classrooms, assess student learning, and interact with students.]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2003303937_teachblog14.html

10-15-06 New York Times - registration required
“ Islamic Schools Test Ideal of Integration in Britain”
[Government struggles with the “gap between a largely secular society and a profound commitment to a single faith” found in many British schools.]
http://tinyurl.com/yg3rzf

10-11-06 Washington Post
“ The Handwriting Is on the Wall”
[On SAT, cursive writers had “slightly higher average scores than those” who printed, according to the College Board.]
http://tinyurl.com/ymvvsv

10-11-06 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“ Program for New Principals Gets Rolling”
[Milwaukee is the seventh city for “high-energy program of recruiting, training and coaching principals for high-needs school.”]
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=517587

10-16-06 International Herald Tribune
“ East Meets West in U. S. Schools”
[Chicago, with 5,000 students, just one U. S. hot spot of Chinese language instruction.]
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/16/news/riedchin.php

10-07-06 Seattle Times
“ Schools Trying to Prevent Harassment in Cyberspace”
[Students created MySpace sites and profiles for unknowing principal.]
http://tinyurl.com/yla8fp

10-17-06 Washington Post
“ Tips for a Better Parent-School Relationship”
[Educators and parents offer suggestions in effective communication.]
http://tinyurl.com/yjt2rz

10-17-06 Washington Post
“ Involvement Under No Child Left Behind”
[Report researches five conclusions in ways schools lack communicating with parents.]
http://tinyurl.com/yg5lod

10-04-06 Education Week registration required
“ The Forgotten History of Immigration”
[Positive impact and educational innovations of immigrants often overlooked.]
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/10/04/06celis.h26.html

10-06-06 Edutopia
“ Pecking Order”
[“Parent pressure is eclipsing teacher control.”]
http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1634&issue=oct_06

10-06 American Association of School Administrators
“ From Battleground to Common Ground”
[Planning ahead crucial in dealing with controversies over religion in public schools.]
http://tinyurl.com/yfrnlp

10-26-06 USA Today
“ Students, Officials Locking Horns Over Blogs”
[Districts “punishing and even expelling students” for home-based postings.]
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-10-25-school-blogs_x.htm

10-26-06 Christian Science Monitor
“ Move to Single-Sex Classes Fans Debate”
[Although research is inconclusive, feds allow separating girls and boys.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/p02s01-legn.html

10-26-06 Christian Science Monitor
“ Crisis in Civics Ed? Revival Is Under Way”
[History-focused high schools increasing to engage students in American democracy.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/p14s01-legn.html

10-18-06 USA Today
“ Scientists: Video Games Can Reshape Education”
[Research to determine the most appealing features of online games to incorporate into education.]
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-10-17-gaming-education_x.htm

10-18-06 Cincinnati Enquirer
“ Ohio’s Class of 2011 Faces Harder Course Work”
[“Everything but the foreign language requirement is doable,” says curriculum director regarding shortage of foreign language teachers.]
http://tinyurl.com/y8pw68

10-27-06 KTLA-TV
“ A Fight to Keep Schools Integrated”
[“Courts have lifted desegregation order in more than 100 school districts from Alabama to California.”]
http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-na-deseg22oct22,0,5588559.story?coll=ktla-news-1

10-23-06 Salt Lake Tribune
“ Schools Struggle for Time”
[Some believe more time for learning won’t work until educators know how to use time more wisely.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4534980

10-30-06 Des Moines Register
“ Plan Puts Experts in the Classroom”
[New license would help ease teacher shortages.]
http://tinyurl.com/y682uy

10-29-06 Washington Post
“ In Teens’ Web World, MySpace Is So Last Year”
[Teens jump ship to Facebook social network.]
http://tinyurl.com/ylnt4z