Curriculum Issues

Report Recommends Ways to Improve K-12 STEM Education

State, national, and local policymakers should elevate science education in grades K-12 to the same level of importance as reading and mathematics, says a new report from the National Research Council.  The report recommends ways that leaders at all levels can improve K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. National Research Council, June 2011

Success Starts With Reading
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is focusing attention on the critical importance of achieving grade-level reading proficiency for all children by the end of third grade.The Annie E. Casey Foundation, May 21, 2010

The Condition of Education 2009 is an integrated collection of the indicators and analyses and is produced by the National Center for Education Statistics. 6/2/2009

A Critical Mission: Making Adolescent Reading a Priority in SREB states

A new report by the Southern Regional Education Board is calling on states to develop comprehensive adolescent literacy policies to improve middle grades and high school reading and writing. SREB released its latest report at EWA’s national seminar in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.  Virginia governor Tim Kaine chair of SREB’s board discussed several recommendations to increase student achievement. 5/7/2009

School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools
This report analyzes the relative impacts of four math curricula on first-grade mathematics achievement.

Technology Counts 2009: Breaking Away From Tradition
More than one million K-12 students in the U.S.are enrolled in online courses, and 25 states have online schools/organizations that provide classes to students, according to the latest edition of Ed Week's annual Technology Counts report. 3/26/2009

The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth-Grade Algebra
The Brookings Institution analyzes the disadvantages of eighth graders taking Algebra I when they are not prepared. Tom Loveless, senior fellow and director of the Brown Center on Education at Brookings, is the lead author of the report.
by Brookings Institution , 12/12/2008

The 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning? pdf
This year's Brown Center Report focuses on the nation's testing achievement, private school enrollment and the impact of time on learning math.
The Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution - Tom Loveless, 12/11/2007

Reading Tests that Misread Children
Screening tests widely used to identify children with reading problems are being misapplied, landing students in the wrong instructional level and delaying treatment for their true difficulties, says new research from National-Louis University and the University of Maryland.
University of Marylan College Parkand National-Louis University - Rochelle Newman, Diane German, 11/19/2007

Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap
The Brookings Institution has released a report examining No Child Left Behind's effect on the education of the nation's poor children. Researchers said there have been some positive effects for students in the improvement of teacher quality.
The Brookings Institution - Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert M. Hauser, Paul Hill, 11/9/2007

Why Rural Matters 2007
Why Rural Matters 2007 is the fourth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the urgency with which policymakers in each state should address rural education issues.
The Rural School and Community Trust - Jerry Johnson and Marty Strange, 10/23/2007

Are Private High Schools Better Academically Than Public High Schools?
The study released by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) examines 12 years of data that finds students who attended private schools didn't have much of an advantage over their peers who attended public high schools in regard to test scores, career happiness, and civic engagement. Family involvement is key and the study finds that low-income students from urban public high schools generally did as well if they had a good support system.
Center on Education Policy (CEP) - Harold Wenglinsky, 10/10/2007

Important, But Not for Me: Kansas and Missouri Students and Parents Talk About Math, Science and Technology Education pdf
The study released by ublic Agenda is based on a 10-year project to improve math, science and technology education in the Kansas City region.
Public Agenda - Alison Kadlec and Will Friedman, 9/24/2007

'07 Knight survey shows most high school students haven't heard about Constitution Day
Three years after a new federal law took effect requiring schools to educate all students about the Constitution and the First Amendment, a new survey shows that a majority of America's students aren't even aware that Constitution Day exists.
The Knight Foundation - David Yalof and Ken Dautrich, 9/17/2007

What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB
This Education Sector Explainer provides an aid to understanding how NCLB's accountability system works overall and in different states, without weighing in on the merits of the law's 2014 goal. It includes a discussion of the basics of "making" AYP and the multiple routes schools can take to get there and data showing what the requirements are in each state to meet AYP this year and for the past two years.
Education Sector, 7/24/2007

Similar English Learner Students, Different Results: Why Do Some Schools Do Better? pdf
A follow-up analysis, based upon a large-scale survey of California elementary schools serving high proportions of low-income students who are also learning English as a second language. The report shows specific practices used by schools that were more successful in helping EL students.
EdSource, 6/14/2007

The Condition of Education 2007
High school students in the United States are taking more courses in mathematics and science, as well as social studies, the arts, and foreign languages, according to an analysis of high school student coursework that is highlighted in this government report. Statistics on student achievement, school environment and a wide range of other topics related to early childhood education through postsecondary education are also included.
by National Center for Education Statistics, 5/1/2007

Urban Districts: 2005 Science Assessment
Ten urban school districts volunteered to have their results on science portions of the National Assessment of Educational Progress published as part of an experiment to compare urban districts to the rest of the country. Some urban districts do better than others, but as a whole, not as well as the rest of the country.
11/20/2006

How Well Are American Students Learning?
The report looks at the "happiness factor" in education, analyzing international data to see whether students' self-confidence and enjoyment of math and the relevance of lessons that students experience in classrooms are correlated with higher math achievement. Do nations with happier students score higher on math tests than nations in which students are not quite as happy?
Brookings Institution - Tom Loveless, 10/18/2006

The Reading First Program's Grant Application Process pdf
The Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Education released a final report on its investigation into allegations about the Reading First program of No Child Left Behind.
The report concludes that officials:

• Developed an application package that obscured the requirements of the statute;
• Took action with respect to the expert review panel process that was contrary to the balanced panel composition envisioned by Congress;
• Intervened to influence a state's selection of reading programs; and
• Intervened to influence reading programs being used by local school districts after the application process was completed.
  "These actions demonstrate that the program officials failed to maintain a environment that exemplifies management integrity and accountability," the report says.

Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8
A study by the National Research Council says that improving science education in kindergarten through eighth grade will require major changes in how science is taught in America's classrooms, as well as shifts in commonly held views of what young children know and how they learn.
National Research Council - Richard A. Duschl, Heidi A. Schweingruber and Andrew W. Shouse, 9/21/2006

The Condition of Education 2006
The 2006 Condition on Education summarizes important trends and developments in education. The report includes 50 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education.
National Center for Education Statistics - Patrick Rooney, William Hussar and Michael Planty, 6/1/2006

Why Urban, Educated Parents Are Turning to DIY Education

\We think of homeschoolers as evangelicals or off-the-gridders who spend a lot of time at kitchen tables in the countryside. And it’s true that most homeschooling parents do so for moral or religious reasons. But education observers believe that is changing. Linda Perlstein, Newsweek, Jan. 30, 2012

A Decade Later, Schools Find Lessons in 9/11

More than 60 million children in America are 14 and younger, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So how do teachers handle the daunting task of trying to explain the significance of 9/11 to students who don't remember when anyone could walk right up to the gate at the airport or when Osama bin Laden wasn't a household name? Dorie Turner, Associated Press, Sept. 3

D.C.’s Bruce-Monroe School Faces Challenges as it Tries Singapore Math Method

Bruce-Monroe is one of about 2,000 U.S. schools in the past decade that have adopted the Singapore approach to math, which stresses mastery of basic skills and a few essential ideas, such as place value and part-whole relationships. Bill Turque, Washington Post, June 6, 2011

Two Families Choose Different Paths to Academic Excellence

Jade Larriva-Latt and Derek Lee are both successful students. Her summers are filled with non-scholastic pursuits. For him, summer is the time to sprint ahead in the race to the academic top. The two approaches — one parent-driven, the other more relaxed — have become part of a national debate. Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2011

The Case for Cursive

For centuries, cursive handwriting has been an art. To a growing number of young people, it is a mystery. Katie Zezima, New York Times, April 27, 2011

For AP Students, a New Classroom Is Online

Advanced-placement classes have been booming amid efforts by high-school students and parents to trim college tuition costs and gain an edge in the college-admissions race.The courses, however, can be expensive for schools to offer. For students in districts facing budget cuts, online courses are becoming an increasingly popular option. Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2011

NAEP Study Finds Jump in Students Taking Tough Courses

Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more likely to perform well on achievement tests, according to a study released today that shows more students are doing just that. Caralee J. Adams, Education Week, April 14, 2011

Find Your State's NAEP Report Card

The findings of the 2009 Science National Assessment of Educational Progress were announced this week on nationsreportcard.gov. Results are broken down by state and subject. Also included are district profiles, sample questions and state comparison tools.

National science test scores disappoint

About two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders failed to show proficiency in science in 2009, the federal government reported Tuesday, meaning that the average student was likely to be stumped when asked to interpret a temperature graph or explain an example of heat transfer. Nick Anderson, Washington Post, Jan. 25, 2011

Senators pledge to work jointly on education

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators pledged Wednesday to work together to revamp the federal No Child Left Behind education law, a day after President Barack Obama called on lawmakers in his State of the Union address to speed up overhaul of the Bush-era policy. Associated Press, Jan. 27, 2011

60 First Graders, 4 Teachers, One Loud New Way to Learn

Instead of assigning one teacher to roughly 25 children, the New American Academy in Brooklyn began the school year with four teachers in large, open classrooms of 60 students. The school stresses student independence over teacher-led lessons, scientific inquiry over rote memorization and freedom and self-expression over strict structure and discipline. Sharon Otterman, The New York Times, Jan. 10, 2011

With high hopes for test scores, school district invests in iPod touches and iPads

During a time of budget reductions -- employees must take 14 furlough days this school year -- Oregon's Canby School District has issued an iPod touch to every third-grader, challenging the idea that digital technology exists largely as a distraction for a plugged-in generation. Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian, Jan. 1, 2011

Some Virginia Textbooks Filled With Errors, Review Finds

In the version of history being taught in some Virginia classrooms, New Orleans began the 1800s as a bustling U.S. harbor (instead of as a Spanish colonial one). The Confederacy included 12 states (instead of 11). And the United States entered World War I in 1916 (instead of in 1917). Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, Dec. 29, 2010

Your Child Left Behind

When researchers compared the best and the brightest from individual states to similar students in other countries, not a single state made it into the top dozen contenders on the list. Massachusetts came closest at no. 17. Mississippi ranked with Thailand and Serbia. Amanda Ripley, The Atlantic, December 2010

Brilliance in a Box

Classrooms in countries with the highest-performing students contain very little tech wizardry, generally speaking. They look, in fact, a lot like American ones—circa 1989 or 1959. Children sit at rows of desks, staring up at a teacher who stands in front of a well-worn chalkboard. Amanda Ripley, Slate Magazine, Oct. 21, 2010

Virginia 4th-Grade Textbook Criticized Over Claim About Black Confederate Soldiers

A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War -- a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking to play down slavery's role as a cause of the conflict. Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2010

Drill, Baby, Drill

The word “drill” has come to define bad teaching. The piercing violence that “drilling” evokes just seems not to belong in sensitive pedagogy. Good teachers don’t fire off quiz questions and catechize kids about facts. But while drilling might not look pretty — students doing drills don’t tend terrariums or don wigs to re-enact the Constitutional Convention — might it nonetheless be a useful way for some students to learn some things? Virginia Hefernan, New York Times Sunday Magazine Education Life Issue, Sept. 19, 2010

Senate OKs Algebra II bill
High school students who struggle with math could, with their parents' consent, graduate without taking Algebra II as part of the state-mandated curriculum under a bill headed to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her signature. Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press, May 7, 2010

Strong Debate On Both Sides Over Bill Requiring Dissection Option In Schools
Allie Petit knew she'd have to dissect a fetal pig in her sophomore biology class at Plainville High School, but she always thought her teacher would give her an alternative so that she wouldn't have to pick up a scalpel. Petit fought the school and was eventually allowed to study a dissection manual, instead. In the end, she got a B-plus in the class and succeeded in getting the school to change its policy so that students are now offered an alternative. Grace E. Merrit, The Hartford Courant, April 9, 2010

Outside Texas, alarm over textbook changes
When Texas' conservative-leaning Board of Education voted for new social studies standards this month, parents, teachers and lawmakers far beyond the Lone Star state -- particularly the liberal ones -- took notice. Richard Fausset, The Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2010

Texas Conservatives Seek Deeper Stamp on Texts
Even as a panel of educators laid out a vision for national standards for public schools, the Texas school board was going in a different direction, holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum that would portray conservatives in a more positive light, emphasize the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies in textbooks. James C. McKinley, Jr., The New York Times

State will try history do-over
North Carolina's state education agency will dump its proposed changes to the U.S. history curriculum, yielding to the torrent of criticism that early American events would be dumbed down or left out.Lynn Bonner, The Raleigh News Observer, Feb. 17, 2010

As online classes boom, questions of rigor arise
A fast-growing number of Minnesota K-12 students are migrating from the classroom to a home computer, in what some experts say is the vanguard of an online education revolution that's altering how and where many students learn. Enrollment in full- and part-time public online programs has nearly doubled in a two-year period -- going from 4,500 to 8,000 students last year, about 1 percent of the state's student body. Emily Johns and Sarah Lemagie, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Feb. 17, 2010

English programs may get flexibility
State mandates on how school districts teach English-language learners keep local officials from adopting systems that can most effectively address the needs of their students, a state lawmaker says. Griselda Nevarez, The Arizona Republic, Feb. 16, 2010

'Algebra-for-All' Push Found to Yield Poor Results
Spurred by a succession of reports pointing to the importance of algebra as a gateway to college, educators and policymakers embraced “algebra for all” policies in the 1990s and began working to ensure that students take the subject by 9th grade or earlier. Debra Viadero, Education Week, Feb. 12, 2010

Kentucky to be first to endorse national education standards
Kentucky schoolchildren in grades K-12 will see new standards for math and English next year, as part of a collaborative effort among 48 states to more clearly specify what knowledge and skills students need to succeed in college and in the workforce. Antoinette Konz, The Courier-Journal, Feb.12, 2010

Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese
Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy.  But another contrary trend has educators and policy makers abuzz: a rush by schools in all parts of America to offer instruction in Chinese. Sam Dillon, The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2010

In Suburban Schools, an Alternative to A.P.
Dual-enrollment courses have long been used in urban schools to provide some higher education to poor and minority students and encourage them to go on to college. But now many top suburban high schools are embracing dual enrollment as a way to challenge their brightest students and ward off senioritis once college applications are done. They say the college courses offer an alternative to the high-pressure AP program, in which students receive college credits or advanced placement based on their performance on an exam at the end of the year. But in some suburban circles, parents worry that the rapidly expanding college courses could cause their high schools’ rankings to drop in surveys, many of which factor in AP enrollment. Winnie Hu, The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2010

More Texas students taking, failing AP exams
Robust Advanced Placement programs are often seen as a seal of quality for high schools. And in its quest for excellence, Texas has seen an explosion of the classes that offer the promise and prestige of college credit. But the latest data show Texas high school students fail more than half of the college-level exams, and their performance trails national averages. First in a two part series. Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News, December 7, 2009

More Oregon students are getting math
Oregon math teachers have moved middle schoolers far enough ahead in math that the typical eighth-grader now can do math at nearly the same level as many high school sophomores. Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian, Nov. 9, 2009

New Hampshire's first virtual high school classroom program in Exeter getting good grades
The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, New Hampshire's first online high school, is becoming a force in the state's education system. About 2,000 students are currently signed up for classes. One hundred teachers from all five New England states are on staff. Almost 50 courses are offered. Jason Claffey, Foster's Daily Democrat, August 4, 2009

Let's Talk About Sex
by Alison Lobron
With US sex education heading into its second century, some educators are suggesting that sex ed can, and should, be about more than just all the things that can go wrong, that adults need to do more than robotically recite statistics about condom failure or the merits of abstinence. This new approach, almost too small to be called a movement, exists largely outside the public schools, but it's a new twist in a debate that often gets bogged down in finger-pointing and name-calling.
The Boston Globe, 2/1/2009

The Local List: Challenge Index 2008 Well-Connected Parents Take On School Boards
For a new generation of well-wired activists in the Washington region, it's not enough to speak at Parent-Teacher Association or late-night school board meetings. They are going head-to-head with superintendents through e-mail blitzes, social networking Web sites, online petitions, partnerships with business and student groups, and research that mines a mountain of electronic data on school performance.
The Washington Post - Michael Alison Chandler, 1/30/2009

II Doesn't Always = II
by Michael Alison Chandler
From Northwest Washington to the suburbs of Fairfax and Prince George's counties, advanced algebra often appears the same from class to class: Students are expected to learn dozens of skills, including factoring trinomials, solving rational equations and graphing quadratic functions. But it doesn't always work that way.
The Washington Post, 1/26/2009

Elementary school hopes music boosts test scores
by Greta Cuyler
At Lisa Sharer's command, 18 kindergartners hold violins in place and raise their bows in the ready position. All 130 kindergarten students at Schuylkill Valley Elementary School in York, Pa., are receiving classroom instruction on the violin this school year. The district is initiating a four-year study to examine if violin lessons boost performance on standardized tests.
York Daily Record, 1/18/2009

Testing for Tech Literacy
by Douglas MacMillan
On a recent Monday morning, the eighth graders in Chris Malanga's technology class at Riverhead (N.Y.) Middle School were hard at work constructing Web pages. Technology classes like this are entering the curriculum in schools around the country, but they're not common enough, say educators, company executives, and policymakers. In a bid to make technology literacy more widespread, the National Assessment Governing Board this month announced plans to develop the first nationwide assessment of technological learning in U.S. schools.
BusinesWeek, 10/28/2008

Science Evolves in Classrooms
by Daniel de Vise
In the past six years, science has slipped as a priority in public schools while reading and mathematics have grown dominant. But in coming years, experts say, the same federal law that elevated reading and math could spark a resurgence of science in the classroom. The 2002 No Child Left Behind law required states to test students in science starting in the 2007-08 year, on top of reading and math assessments mandated from the start.
The Washington Post, 10/27/2008

Districts prepare full-time online K-12 schools under new state law
by Laura Green
Next school year, the first generation of Florida students can begin to earn a diploma from local public schools entirely online, without ever setting foot in a classroom from kindergarten through 12th grade. A new state law requires districts to create their own full-time virtual schools, collaborate with other districts or contract with providers approved by the state. The law is believed to be the most wide-ranging virtual mandate in the nation.
Palm Beach Post, 9/28/2008

Oregon PE classes shift from running laps to learning skills
by Kimberly Melton
The next time you watch your kid's gym class, you may not see students doing laps and playing dodgeball. Try juggling and geocaching instead. As the state moves to teach fitness and nutrition to a new generation, hallowed physical education traditions are morphing into a more rigorous curriculum that emphasizes specific skills, building self-esteem and reducing alarming obesity rates. All that and textbooks, too. That means dodgeball is out. Hiking and geocaching are in.
The Oregonian, 9/28/2008

California's new 8th-grade algebra rule gets some poor marks
by Howard Blume
The new California state policy of requiring algebra in the eighth grade will set up unprepared students for failure while holding back others with solid math skills, a new report has concluded.
The Los Angeles Times, 9/22/2008