Education News: April 1, 2005

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending April 1, 2005.

Black Parents Tackle a Gap
(Source: Boston.com)
A concerted effort by African-American academics, social workers, and the College Board in Harlem has resulted in the neighborhood’s black parents becoming more involved in their children’s education. The drive, launched in the 2003-2004 school year, aimed to motivate black parents, regardless of income, to match well-to-do white parents in parental involvement with education both inside and outside the classroom. Increasing levels of parental involvement is a proven strategy for improving children’s academic performance, and efforts like the one in Harlem are occurring among middle-class and affluent black parents around the country in areas where black children do not fare as well as their white peers, despite similar economic backgrounds. Researchers have cited poverty, racial stereotyping, and bad teaching as primary reasons for the academic discrepancies between black and white children, but Ron Ferguson, the director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University, says new research points to the idea that middle-class black families are on average more likely to leave their kids’ education fully in the hands of the public school systems. Currently researchers and education-related organizations such as The College Board, the Harlem Children’s Zone, and the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College are using conferences, public awareness ads, and other means to spread the message that school alone does not guarantee academic success.

NYC Recalls Math Guides Riddled With Errors
(Source: CNN.com)
New York City education officials recalled preparation materials for math tests in grades 3-7 after discovering the guide was filled with math and spelling mistakes. There were at least 18 errors in the guide, many of them egregious, such as the misspelling of “fourth” on the cover of the 4th-grade manual. The guide’s problems were discovered before they reached classrooms, and school officials plan to correct the errors before redistributing the guide electronically. Carmen Farina, deputy chancellor for teaching and learning, blamed a staff member for failing to follow protocol for review of all materials.

Math Help for U.S. Kids May Come From India
(Source: Cleveland.com)
A provision of the No Child Left Behind Act allows federal tax dollars to go to online tutoring companies based out of places such as Calcutta and New Delhi. Such services typically work with U.S. tutoring firms that provide lesson plans and computer software. While most teachers favor the use of public monies to help struggling students catch up, some object to the idea of full-time, college-educated Indian tutors receiving as little as $230 a month.

Council Rebuffed on Hearing Over New Antibullying Law in New York
(Source: The New York Times)
As part of an ongoing disagreement between the Bloomberg administration and the City Council regarding a new antibullying law, the New York City Department of Education refused the Council’s request to testify at a hearing. Instead, the department sent a letter to the Council’s Education Committee saying that the law, known as the Dignity for All Students Act, was illegal because it conflicted with previous state education laws. A representative of the Bloomberg administration declined to attend the hearing because bullying is already against the rules in schools, but proponents of the potential new law say it provides more comprehensive information and protection by requiring schools to track bullying complaints and train their teachers and staff members in how to identify and curb bullying behavior. Gifford Miller, the Council speaker, threatened to issue a subpoena to compel a representative of the Department of Education to attend a future hearing on the subject.