District Administration - January 2012 - (Page 10)

Br iefings Newsupdate PeoPle Watch From Intel to ArIz. Craig Barrett, former Intel chief executive officer, was appointed in December to the Arizona Ready Education Council by Gov. Jan Brewer. Barrett would like Arizona to adopt the Common Core State Standards and reform teacher training and pay. WhAt ChIld lABor lAWs? Former House speaker and GOP presidential candidate newt Gingrich said on the campaign trail that child labor laws are “truly stupid” and schools should eliminate unionized janitors so lowincome children can work to instill a good work ethic. our BIGGest ProBlem Former Secretary of State Condoleezza rice told CBS’ Bob Schieffer that the single biggest problem facing the United States is public education in the Thanksgiving edition of “Face the Nation.” Rice predicts it will drive the U.S. “into class warfare.” WhIte mAy leAd lA. Penny Dastugue, president of the Louisiana school board, predicts the board will approve Gov. Bobby Jindal’s endorsement of John White for the state’s next superintendent. He has been superintendent of the Recovery School District since May 2011. will.i.am’s system On Nov. 26, pop singer will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas announced his own STEM initiative, SYSTEM: stimulating youth for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The singer hopes to get students interested in STEM education. By Marion Herbert CEP Study Says Skepticism Still Surrounds SIGs There is some skepTicism regarding the effectiveness of school improvement Grants (siGs) on the part of those districts that are not eligible to receive them, according to a new study released in November by the center on education policy (cep). siGs are competitive grants awarded by the U.s. Department of education to districts identified as persistently lowest achieving, a designation that applies to 15 percent of the nation’s districts. Based on the survey results, only 16 percent of ineligible districts felt the grants have been effective. in contrast, 58 percent of eligible districts felt the grants have been effective. The uncertainty regarding the grants’ effectiveness may be, in part, because schools that did receive the grants are still in their first year of implementation and some results are yet to be seen, says Diane retner, director of national programs at cep. Districts applied for the grants in spring 2010, and those who received money began implementing their projects during the 2010-2011 school year. The cep survey went out in January 2011 when siG projects were still underway. Eligible vs. Ineligible retner also feels that because the grants are targeted toward the lowest 15 percent of schools, 85 percent of districts had little knowledge of the program and are therefore not as aware of its results. some may also have had a problem with being eligible for the program. “if you have the 17th-lowest district, you hit some gray area,” says retner. “They’re not the lowest, but still not doing so great.” Former Red Lake (Minn.) High School Principal Ev Arnold talks to senior students. Arnold was dismissed as part of the School Improvement Grant program and is now a turnaround officer at the high school. should this model of reform, favoring competitive grants over formulas, become legislative commonplace, more research and communication on its effectiveness must be carried out, says retner. “if this is a new federal policy, that we are going to target more resources toward the lowest-performing schools, there needs to be more gumption as to why that’s important,” says retner. “There needs to be more awareness of the program. Do districts think this is the right policy even though they’re not eligible?” 10 January 2012 District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2012

District Administration - January 2012
Contents
Letters
News Update
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Finding the Perfect Fit
Kansas City Plots Next Steps
Seeking Savings in Special Ed
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Equipping Teachers to Infuse Technology
Flipped Classrooms Gaining Ground
Buying in Bulk
Online Identity Management
Going Mobile
Student Counsel
Online Edge
New Books
New Products
Product Focus
Professional Opinion

District Administration - January 2012