March 2006

I. Teachers and Teaching

1. More Than 100 Area Teachers Recognized
Sunday, March 5th, 2006 , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Teacher Excellence Center has selected 106 Western Pennsylvania teachers to be honored in its annual teacher recognition program.

2. Case Involving Errors in Teacher Test Is Settled
Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 , New York Times
The Educational Testing Service has agreed to pay $11.1 million to settle a class-action lawsuit about errors in the scoring of a widely used teacher licensing examination.

3. China Inspires Urban Teachers to Work for Rural Schools
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 , Chinaview
China is to encourage urban teachers to work in rural schools in order to improve the overall quality of rural education.

II. Learners and Learning

1. Too Many Children Left Behind
Friday, March 24th, 2006 , New York Daily News
The four children pictured here - Darshawn Wynn, Jaylin Laboy, Sydney and Kayla McLeod - were among 278 youngsters who were turned away from admission to the Harlem Success Charter School on Wednesday night because the school, which opens in the fall, had no room for them.

2. Healthy Push for School Children
Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 , New York Post
Under legislation introduced in the City Council, all 1.1 million students in the New York city's public school system would have to submit a clean bill of health every year.

3. Tuition Waiver Policy Helps More Than Twenty-seven Thousand Students Come Back to School
Monday, March 20th, 2006 , Xinhua News Agency
Since the policy of tuition waiver was implemented in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 27387 students who had previously dropped out came back to campus in this spring.

III. Leaders and Leadership

1. Detroit Schools Lose 11,500 Children at a Cost of $63M
Friday, March 17th, 2006 , The Detroit News
An audit shows the city schools lost nearly 11,500 students last fall, a plunge worse than administrators originally reported and possibly the district's biggest one-year loss in more than two decades.

2. Standardized Tests Face a Crisis Over Standards
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 , New York Times
Never has the nation's education system been so reliant on standardized tests and the companies that make them. "The scale of N.C.L.B. testing requirements, competitive pressures in the testing industry, a shortage of testing experts, insufficient state resources, tight regulatory deadlines and a lack of meaningful oversight of the sprawling N.C.L.B. testing enterprise are undermining N.C.L.B.'s pursuit of higher academic standards." Thomas Toch, co-director of a new research group, EducationSector said.

3. Limits on School Choice
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006, People’s Network
The Ministry of Education is considering putting limitations on school choice because it is believed that school choice elicites problems of tuition expansion and enlarges the inequality of education in some areas.

IV. Curriculum

1. Junior Year Brings Great Demands
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006, Washington Post
Faced with SATs, school activities and pressure to set life goals, some students report record anxiety.

2. China to Launch Health Education Campaign
Friday, March 10 th, 2006 , Chinaview
China will launch an education campaign among its 200 million students to improve their physical and psychological health in the coming ten years. More than ten departments including the China Youth Concern Committee, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health have jointly issued a circular to popularize healthy lifestyles in primary and middle schools across the country.

V. Family and Community

1. Disgruntled Parents form School Group
Sunday, March 5 th, 2006, Boston Globe
Parents who felt ignored by school administrators when a popular teacher was fired are banding together to gain a greater voice in their children's education. The Citizens for Accountability and Responsibility in Education in Norfolk was formed in the wake of the firing of a popular third-grade teacher in January.

2. Parents Pick Math, Science for New High School's Focus
Tuesday, March 7 th, 2006, ArizonaRepublic
A specialized high school program that focuses on advanced mathematics and sciences appears to be the most popular of the three options the Scottsdale Unified School District is considering for its sixth high school. Parents are supportive of a bond to pay for a new high school.

3. "My tummy hurts, Mama" - When Children are Scared of School
Wednesday, March 1 st, 2006, Chinaview
Tummy aches and their heads really hurt are just some of the complaints parents hear. Most accept these "illnesses" from time to time and conspire to let their offspring take a day off occasionally. But parents need to consider whether the pain is a symptom of a physical illness or an expression of fear.