Education News: May 2, 2008

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending May 2, 2008.

An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective
(Source:  The New York Times, 5/2/08):  A new Congress-mandated report has found that President Bush’s $1 billion reading program, Reading First, has been ineffective at improving reading comprehension in young children.  The program, which recently had its budget scaled back to $400 million, was included as a part of the No Child Left Behind legislation and has been in effect since 2001.

National Teacher of the Year Michael Geisen Honored at White House
(Source:  The Oregonian, 5/1/08):  Michael Geisen, a middle school science teacher in Oregon, was honored as the National Teacher of the Year at a ceremony in the White House’s Rose Garden this week.  Mr. Geisen used his meeting with President George Bush as an opportunity to ask that he reconsider No Child Left Behind and its impact on the creativity of students and teachers alike.  As National Teacher of the Year, Mr. Geisen will spend the next year talking with other educators, meeting with policymakers, and serving as an ambassador for improving the teaching profession.

Chicago Schools Punching Up Its Foreign Language Programs in the Name of Globalism
(Source:  The Chicago Tribune, 4/30/08):  The Chicago public school district has announced plans to expand its foreign language program by teaching Arabic and Chinese to more students and adding Russian instruction to the curriculum.  Already, Chicago has the largest Chinese instruction program in the country, with over 7,000 students studying the language.  Offering classes in these languages is a priority of Mayor Richard Daley, who believes students who learn them will be better able to compete in the global economy.

School Discipline Rates Escalate After Katrina
(Source:  USA Today, 4/29/08):   A new study from the University of Mississippi indicates that students are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  According to the report, public school students in Mississippi who were displaced by the storm have been suspended and expelled at higher rates than their non-displaced peers.  But discipline rates for said peers have also risen, suggesting that the hurricane also traumatized students who were not forced from their homes.

Spare the Rod, Group Urges
(Source:  The News & Observer, 4/29/08):  A North Carolina child advocacy group is urging state education officials to better monitor corporal punishment, which is still allowed in 60 of the state’s school districts.  Because a statewide ban on corporal punishment fell just short of passing last year, such a ban cannot be considered again until 2009, but in the meantime, the child advocates say, the state can require schools to report all incidents of corporal punishment and institute other regulations.

When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web
(Source: The Washington Post, 4/28/08):  Like a lot of people their age, many 20-something teachers maintain MySpace or Facebook pages, but the content of those pages sometimes reveals a very un-teacher-like side.  In some states, including Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Tennessee, teachers have been fired or suspended for posting content deemed inappropriate on social networking websites.  In other cases, employers check prospective hires’ MySpace or Facebook pages before extending an offer.