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The Buzz
9-18-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--First-Ever Guidelines on Early Childhood Beverages Take Aim at Sugar and More
New Jersey-based foundation funds healthcare collaboration that delivers first comprehensive instructions on healthy beverages for young children...'
Washington Post--Back-to-School Night Is Hard for Single Parents Meant to be welcoming, such events can make solo parents feel isolated...' Education Week--Early-College High School Students More Likely to Earn Postsecondary Degrees Participating in early-college programs could have a long-term positive effect on students' college enrollment and completion rates, a new study finds...' Politics K-12 (Education Week)--By One Measure, Federal Spending on Children Has Hit a 10-Year Low The share of the federal budget that goes toward children, including education spending, dipped to just below 2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product in 2018—the lowest level in the decade...' Chalkbeat--Can virtual advising shift where students go to college? Yes, but only a bit. When Shannon Binns was navigating the college admissions process, she had a sounding board hundreds of miles away from her small hometown in Northeast Ohio...' The Hechinger Report--Black teachers matter, for students and communities We learn more from an integrated school staff than just the syllabus...'
9-17-19 Education in the News
ABC News--Vapes spiked with illegal drugs show dark side of CBD craze
Jay Jenkins says he hesitated when a buddy suggested they vape CBD.
"It'll relax you," the friend assured.
The vapor that Jenkins inhaled didn't relax him. After two puffs, he ended up in a coma...'
NJ Spotlight--NJ Vape Task Force Has Tight Deadline, Gets Down to Work Panel will report on sales restrictions and state’s capacity to investigate health irregularities tied to e-cigarettes; new awareness campaign targets young people...' NJ Spotlight--STEM Teachers Could Get Up to $20K in College Loan Aid Senate passes legislation to give STEM educators a hand with paying off existing student loans or help funding advanced degrees...' Chalkbeat--Want better readers? Spend less time teaching kids to find the main idea, ‘Knowledge Gap’ author Natalie Wexler argues In the average public elementary school, third graders spend nearly two hours a day on reading instruction, according to a recent federal survey. That far outstrips any other subject, with math coming in second at around 70 minutes a day, and science and social studies getting about half an hour a day each...' Education Dive--School districts deploy vaping sensors in e-cig crackdown School districts in at least three states – Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey –have installed sensors to detect smoke from e-cigarettes. North Carolina could be next, as the state’s attorney general weighs the option of securing state funds to implement the technology, WCNC reports...'
9-16-19 Education in the News
Education Week--Can Bite-Sized Lessons Make Social-Emotional Learning Easier to Teach?
Teaching social-emotional skills in class sounds great, and the idea has a broad and growing following in K-12 schools...'
Chalkbeat--How Khan Academy, the popular free tool for students, wants to play a more official role in America’s classrooms When teachers in Compton Unified School District first started using Khan Academy, they deployed the online learning tool on their own — allowing students to use its tutorial videos to review concepts and practice key skills...' Edutopia--Using Digital Tools to Promote Social and Emotional Learning Educators can take advantage of digital tools that students want to use to enhance social and emotional learning efforts...'
9-13-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--Governor creates task force to study vaping regulation
Announcement comes amid concerns about severe respiratory illness among e-cigarette users, including three cases in New Jersey...'
The Atlantic--The Myth of the Wealthy Welder Is a lucrative college-free job too good to be true?...' Chalkbeat--How the Democratic candidates talked about charter schools and school segregation in Thursday night’s debate...' The Hechinger Report--What makes education innovation succeed? An education nonprofit argues it comes down to five conditions...'
9-12-19 Educaton in the News
Star Ledger--Kids would be cut off from prom, trips if lunch debt gets too high
The Cherry Hill board of education may do an about-face on a controversial policy a student recently called “a badge of shame.”...'
Asbury Park Press—NJ Teen Vaping: “The Teachers Have No Idea” Schools and parents at the Shore are scrambling to respond to the growing use of e-cigarettes among teens. Here are the five things you need to know...' Education Week--Schools Say No to Cellphones in Class. But Is It a Smart Move? Sexting. Cyberbullying. Googling test answers. Taking a picture of a quiz and sending it to friends who have the same class later in the day. Paying more attention to Instagram notifications than biology class...' Politics K-12 (Education Week)--Chicago schools chief asks Congress for more federal help to address childhood trauma...' Education Dive--High school hacker's story a lesson on student data security As a high school student, Bill Demirkapi hacked into his Massachusetts school district’s data management systems, accessing millions of student records,…'
9-11-19 Education in the News
Star Ledger--N.J. should require schools to hold moment of silence on 9/11, top Democrat says
All New York public schools are now required to hold a moment of silence to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks under a law Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed this week.
Now, as the country commemorates the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks Wednesday, New Jersey’s highest-ranking state lawmaker wants Garden State schools to do the same....'
NY Times--Spelling Their Way to Success Four past champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on what the competition taught them about hard work, grit and luck...' Washington Post—OP-Ed: Here’s a suggestion for Thursday’s presidential debate: Talk about public education When Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and former vice president Joe Biden got into a dispute about busing at the first presidential debate, it felt for five minutes that maybe, just maybe, we would have a wide-ranging discussion about the continuing inequities in public school education. The moment passed quickly...' Education Week--The Push to Get More Teachers of Color in Special Education Classrooms 8 in 10 Educators Are White, Unlike Students...' Chalkbeat--The College Board says it’s tried to reduce inequity in college admissions. A new book argues it hasn’t It was a small detail tucked inside a March 2014 New York Times Magazine piece titled “The Story Behind the SAT Overhaul.”...' Education Dive--Report: Student attendance depends on 'conditions for learning' A new report and interactive map displays school and community factors that affect rates of chronic absenteeism...'
9-10-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--Governor Marks Milestone for Arts Education in NJ
Murphy says New Jersey is only state with universal access in schools to art programs
During his year and a half in office, Gov. Phil Murphy has pushed hard on the education component of his agenda. Most often, his call has been for greater emphasis on science and math.
But it was another side of the first-term chief executive that was on display during a stop Monday at Paramus High School...'
StarLedger--NJ just reached this education milestone, Murphy says All public schools in New Jersey are now offering students access to an arts education, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday...' Education Week--In Battle Against Bullies, Some Schools Target Parents At a meeting last fall, some parents pleaded with members of the Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., school board to do something about bullying their children had faced. They complained that the district's bullying policy was too vague and that students who harass their peers were being let off the hook...' Politics K-12 (Education Week)--Parents Say They Want More School Data. Teachers Say They Need More Time to Use it A new poll finds parents value more granular education data, and that most support schools sharing student-level academic data with other organizations that work with children, such as tutoring groups and other public agencies...' Chalkbeat--‘The system really is unfair’: Paul Tough talks test prep, college admissions, and his new book Paul Tough is equal parts hopeful and disheartened. The journalist known for “How Children Succeed” spent the last few years examining the American college landscape. His findings are the focus of his new book, “The Years That Matter Most.”...'
9-9-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--NJ Public Worker Healthcare Costs to Decrease Next Year
State treasurer acclaims “good news” for property taxpayers but officials provide no estimates of taxpayer savings. Some Medicare retiree rates will rise...'
Asbury Park Press—NJ School Superintendent Pay Jumps; See Each County After State Killed Limits NJ superintendent salaries were already starting to climb even before lawmakers eliminated the restraints on their paychecks...' New York Times--Before 1st Day of School, a Quiz on How to Use Your Giant Schoolbag BERLIN — The school ruler must be an exact length. Each child is required to have three pairs of shoes: one for the classroom, one for outdoor sports and a third, with non-marking soles, for indoor sports. Their schoolbags must be reinforced, stand upright on their own and be able to carry pounds of homework...' Education Week--Boosting School Quality Remains a Slog for States, Nation The nation's latest C grade on Education Week's annual Quality Counts report—the mark it's often received since the annual assessment of the country's K-12 system was created in 1997—is another sign that pursuing educational progress remains a slow and challenging task for many states...' The Hechinger Report--Scientific research on how to teach critical thinking contradicts education trends An education researcher writes that scientists are united in their belief that content knowledge is crucial to effective critical thinking...'
9-6-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--Interactive Map: Educators’ Pay Rose 1% Last Year; Bigger Raises on the Way
Data show that typical public school teacher in New Jersey will receive a 3.01 percent raise this year, the biggest hike in many years...'
Star Ledger--Murphy supports NJEA-backed teachers health care proposal that’s split top Democrats Gov. Phil Murphy supports a controversial measure in the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature that seeks to reduce the cost of health benefits for public school teachers in New Jersey...' Education Week--Do Distressed Students Have a Right to Trauma-Sensitive Schooling? Three lawsuits seek to test that idea...'
9-5-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--NJ DOE Tips Its Hand on New Proposal for Student Assessments
Department also delivers mixed results of last year’s statewide testing, with only about half of students passing math and language-arts exams...'
NJ Spotlight--After-School Suppers Offer Another Weapon Against Childhood Hunger Participation in supper programs is rising rapidly, but new data reveals just 6 percent of eligible students sit down to a hot meal after school...' Star Ledger--N.J.'s standardized test scores are in and they aren’t much better Five years into a controversial set of standardized exams, many New Jersey students are still struggling to make the grade, and statewide gains in test scores are starting to level off...' Star Ledger--N.J. has the No. 1 public schools in the nation, ranking says New Jersey has the best state education system in the country thanks largely to the high amount of money it spends on its schools, according to a new national ranking...' Education Week--In National Ranking of School Systems, a New State Is On Top Nation earns a grade of C amid mixed state showing...' Edutopia--A Simple Practice Yields Big Results in Middle School For Less Than $2 A new study shows how a low-cost writing exercise improves the sense of belonging for incoming middle school students...'
9-4-19 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight--State Investigates Vaping’s Connection to Lung Disease
Reports of severe disease in 15 young e-cigarette users in New Jersey, more than 200 nationwide, lead to alarm among healthcare officials...'
NJ Spotlight--At Start Of School Year, An ‘Incomplete’ On Report Card For Murphy Governor who campaigned on education platform has boosted school funding, but a number of to-do items remain unchecked...' NJ Spotlight--Governor announces $20M more for pre-K programs New funding will go to 28 school districts, says Murphy, a longtime champion of preschool education...' Star Ledger--Teachers in 103 N.J. school districts need a new contract, but this one may be getting settled...' Education Week--Lenders Push High-Interest 'Back-to-School' Loans on Parents Via Social Media An Education Week analysis found dozens of posts on Facebook, such as these, and Twitter urging parents to take out “back to school” loans...' Education Dive--High chronic absenteeism rates among special needs students raise alarms...'
9-3-19 Education in the News
Star Ledger--How can schools prevent shootings? Inside the impossible security dilemma as new year begins
On a Saturday morning in the middle of July, about a dozen New Jersey teachers gathered at Fort Dix for an unusual free training program...'
Education Week--Teachers Nationwide Now Have Access to Open-Source Science Curriculum When Susan McClarty’s district made the switch to open educational resources, the 6th and 7th grade science teacher at Centennial Middle School in Broken Arrow, Okla., initially struggled to find quality materials aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards...' Politics K-12 (Education Week) State Spending on School Buildings Down Sharply Since Great Recession States' spending to build, upgrade, and equip school buildings has fallen over the last decade, exacerbating budget challenges many schools already face, an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds...' Chalkbeat--6 of the 10 leading Democratic candidates say they will boost teacher diversity. Here’s how. Teacher diversity wasn’t an explicit part of either Hillary Clinton’s or Bernie Sanders’ platforms in the lead-up to the 2016 election. But as 2020 approaches, six of the 10 leading Democratic candidates for president, including Sanders, have laid out concrete steps they’d take to diversify the teaching force, which is about 80% white — a serious mismatch with the nation’s public school students, about half of whom are students of color...' Edutopia--The Power of Short Writing Assignments Brief writing prompts and responses help students in any discipline...'
8-29-19 Education in the News
Star Ledger--Tuna sandwich would be a ‘badge of shame’ so school’s reconsidering lunch debt policy...'
Education Week--The Student Vaping Crisis: How Schools Are Fighting Back
With reports of at least one death linked to vaping and dozens of cases of teens and young adults recently hospitalized, school leaders are starting the new academic year even more anxious about the “epidemic” of e-cigarettes. They are vowing to intensify prevention and treatment...'
Education Dive--Growing number of states passing LGBT-inclusive history curricula Earlier this month, Illinois became the fifth state to pass a requirement that schools adopt LGBT-inclusive history curriculum by the 8th grade, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, and District Administration reports Maryland could be the next to move in this direction with a similar standard under consideration...' Edutopia--Writing as a Tool for Reflection Teachers can find a path to self-improvement by writing for just 10 minutes about key moments from their day...' Hechinger Report--OPINION: Parents, here’s why your most important partner may be your child’s teacher (and vice versa) Seven ways that family collaboration can benefit students...'
8-28-19 Education in the News
Star Ledger—OpEd: Teachers have new reason to be anxious this school year, veteran educator says
It’s that time of year again when teachers and professors sharpen their pencils, review curricula and eagerly look forward to the first day of school. We make tacit promises to ourselves to be more connected with our students, make the class more interesting and meaningful for them and, certainly, teach them a thing or two about our subject...'
NPR--College Board Drops Its 'Adversity Score' For Each Student After Backlash The College Board is dropping its plan to give SAT-takers a single score that captures a student's economic hardship. The change comes after blowback from university officials and parents of those taking the college admissions exam...' Politics K-12 (Education Week)--Why School-Level Numbers Matter in the K-12 Funding Fight Thousands of administrators across the country have spent countless hours this summer attempting to rejigger their school finance software to determine how much money they spend on each individual school—a new reporting requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Will it be worth all the headaches? A new federal report suggets the answer is yes...' Education Dive--The 50 States of Education Policy: Tackling school safety in an age of mass shootings and gun reform With the nation divided on gun control, states and districts are taking school safety into their own hands...'
8-27-19 Education in the News
The Record: Five Changes to Expect in the 2019-2020 School Year
The new school year will see a continued push to make schools safer, more affordable and more equitable...'
NPR--The Scientific Debate Over Teens, Screens And Mental Health New Research Casts Doubt On Connection Between Smartphone Use And Teen Mental Health More teens and young adults — particularly girls and young women — are reporting being depressed and anxious, compared with comparable numbers from the mid-2000s. Suicides are up too in that time period, most noticeably among girls ages 10 to 14...' Education Week--How Another Recession Could Test K-12's Resilience If there's one painful experience the nation's schools share from recent history, it's the Great Recession. It's something no educator is keen to relive—but with anxiety rising about an economic downturn in the not-too-distant future, it's possible they won't have a choice...' |
The Special Education Task Force Report was released in November 2015. GSCS, a Task Force member, looks forward to discussion on this important topic under the Murphy administration. See below for a link to the report. RELATED LINKS
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