WSJ Article Data-Driven Schools See Rising Scores

From the Wall Street Journal
Data-Driven Schools See Rising Scores

By JOHN HECHINGER

BETHESDA, Md. -- Last fall, high-school senior Duane Wilson started getting D's on assignments in his Advanced Placement history, psychology and literature classes. Like a smoke detector sensing fire, a school computer sounded an alarm.

The Edline system used by the Montgomery County, Md., Public Schools emailed each poor grade to his mother as soon as teachers logged it in. Coretta Brunton, Duane's mother, sat her son down for a stern talk. Duane hit the books and began earning B's. He is headed to Atlanta's Morehouse College in the fall.

Remainder of article at http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Farticle%2FSB124475338699707579-email.html&nonsubURI=%2Farticle_email%2FSB124475338699707579-lMyQjAxMDI5NDE0MjcxNTIzWj.html

Non-subscribers can read the article for seven more days:

Schwarzenegger's Online Textbook Push

I have been following this story closely not only because I live in California but because I have spent many, many hours working with online textbooks published by Holt. I used to represent Holt McDougal (even as far back as when it was Holt, Rinehart and Winston). With the merger last year, they couldn’t keep me on as a consultant; however, I have remained friends with many of their staff (some of whom are still with Holt and many who are scattered around our industry).

In the eight years of working with Holt, I’ve been privileged to watch the evolution of their online textbooks and often saw resources before their release. I’ve championed the promotion of online textbooks because these digital books are amazing. The integrated tools for teachers will boggle your mind. The appeal to students alone is just cause for committing to them. One of Holt’s social studies texts included interactive maps that let students select years to see, for example, how Napoleon’s empire changed over time. I’ve watched kids listen to audio translations in Spanish or work with interactive notebooks that are monitored by teachers.

This is only the tip of the iceberg…

I realize that transitioning to digital-only textbooks would be difficult. I know we are concerned about marginalizing students. Teachers have my genuine concern when trying to understand how they might manage without hardbound books to pass around. But like all major change, the journey to get “there” while seemingly overwhelming, can be successfully navigated. I have seen what the end result can be and I believe it is worth the painful transition. I applaud Schwarzenegger for pushing this agenda and I am anxious to see how this moves forward.

By the way, would you like a little help with that PR plan, Mr. Governor??

New Feed on AllEducationNews.com

I've added another feed from Education Week dedicated to stimulus funding news. You'll find it on the home page of AllEducationNews.com.

Education Week Blog - • Officials: Some states apparently in no hurry to apply for stimulus funds

Officials: Some states apparently in no hurry to apply for stimulus funds

An interesting blog post in Education Week about the delay for states' applications for stimulus funds. This reminds us that it isn't always so easy to grab what is being offered.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2009/05/why_states_arent_rushing_to_th.html

English Language Learners and Federal Stimulus Funds

Large Districts To Use Stimulus For ELL Support
Education Week, May 18, 2009

At least four large urban school districts plan to spend a significant amount of their federal economic-stimulus money to support or improve programs for English-language learners, a fast-growing group in U.S. schools. The districts—Boston, New York City, St. Paul, Minn., and Seattle—have had varying degrees of success serving such students. (MORE)

Further into the Education Week article, I discovered a group called the ELL Working Group: http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/ARRA/ They have published a 22-page report about how schools can tap into stimulus funds for ELLs.

News Release: LEARNING PLANS ON DEMAND™ Recognized by Leading Education Magazine; Named Best in Tech Solution for Reading/RTI

STUART, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LEARNING PLANS ON DEMAND™ (www.LearningPlansOnDemand.com) has been named a 2009 “Best in Tech” product by Scholastic Administr@tor magazine. It was selected as one of the best technology solutions for schools in the category of Reading/RTI (Response to Intervention) Assessment. In addition to being profiled in the magazine, Learning Plans on Demand will be recognized at the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington D.C. in June 2009.

“The purpose of Learning Plans on Demand is to give the teacher a rapid and reliable way to individualize instruction for every student including those above or below grade level,” said Bill Tudor, founder and president of the International Learning Corporation. “Not only do we make the process easy but it is highly flexible and fits into how a teacher runs the classroom.”

ASCD Special Report on Funding

There are a lot of reports out there about the stimulus funds for education but this one is particularly good. ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) has published part 1 of a detailed look at the monies.

Here is the link http://stimulus.ascd.org/ascd/2009/?u1=texterity

NOTE: If you cannot get there directly from this link, go to ASCD's site http://www.ascd.org/programs/ARRA_resources.aspx


If you do not subscribe to ASCD's SmartBrief, you should. It provides a good look at policy and larger issues affecting education policy (with a few local stories sprinkled in.) IN particular, look at the May 12 issue of SmartBrief for numerous articles on funding.