Education Week - January 28, 2015 - 4

NeWs IN BRIeF
Google Commits to Pledge
On Student-Data Privacy
After initially declining to sign, the
technology giant Google has joined a
growing number of companies committing
to a "student-privacy pledge"
launched by advocacy groups and endorsed
by the White House.
Google has come under heavy scrutiny
for privacy practices that critics
have feared would open the door to
students' personal information being
used for advertising purposes.
At the time of President Barack
Obama's announcement, the pledge
had been signed by 75 companies-
though Google, among others, was
noticeably absent from the list. As of
last week, the number of signatories
had risen to 91.
-SEAN CAVANAGH
Scores, Test-Takers Down
For New GED Exam
The ged Testing Service, which
offers the General Educational Development
test in 40 states, reports
about a 60 percent passing rate for
students taking all four sections of its
new computer-based test, down from
about 65 percent in a typical year. At
the same time, far fewer students
took the test.
The new ged, launched in January
2014, was designed to be more challenging,
with questions that focus on
critical thinking and better reflect
new standards for career and college
readiness.
About 248,000 students took the
new ged last year, according to preliminary
data. In the past few years,
test-taking volume has hovered
around 700,000 to 750,000.
-CARALEE J. ADAMS
Judge Rules Philadelphia
Can't Cancel Union Contract
A Pennsylvania judge ruled last
week that the Philadelphia School
Reform Commission, which runs the
city's public schools, does not have
the authority to unilaterally cancel
the teachers' union contract and impose
new terms.
Judge Patricia A. McCullough
issued a permanent injunction
against the school district, barring
HELPING HANDS
Hailey Winkle and other
volunteers sort through
books as part of a Martin
Luther King Jr. Day of
Service cleanup project at
Edward White High School
in Jacksonville, Fla.
it from implementing a policy that
would have required members of the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
to pay for their health benefits.
In the ruling, the judge said that
nothing-whether implied or specific-in
the state's legislative history
on collective bargaining or the
statutes that the commission cited
in its arguments granted it the authority
to take the actions that it did
on Oct. 6 when it voted to change
the union contract.
-DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
Fla. District Fires Candidate
In Line for National Honor
The Hillsborough County school
board in Tampa, Fla., last week fired
Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, its
leader since 2005.
In December, the Florida Association
of School District Administrators
named her its superintendent
of the year. This month, she became
one of four finalists for the national
award given by the aasa, the School
Superintendents Association.
The Tampa Bay Times reported
that Ms. Elia was "widely considered"
an effective school leader, but
never had the confidence of the full
school board.
-COREY MITCHELL
50 Percent Attendance Rate
Found in Ohio Charters
An audit released last week based
on a "surprise" head count at 30 charter
schools in Ohio found that some
REPORT ROUNDUP www.edweek.org/go/rr
EDUCATION INDUSTRY
"State of the K-12 Market"
An improving economy appears to be freeing up school districts'
ability to spend on technology and other tools and resources, including
instructional materials, according to a survey of administrators.
A quarter of school district officials who responded to a survey
said that they expected their instructional budgets to increase
during the current school year, up from 16 percent the previous
academic year, according to mdR, a market research company that
tracks education trends.
In addition, roughly 90 percent of districts said they expected
their 2014-15 tech budgets for hardware, software, teacher training,
and technical support to stay the same or rise, according to the
research. That's a slight increase from the previous year in most
of those categories.
In trying to gauge districts' buying habits, the analysis offers
a snapshot of something of a moving target. The survey information
was collected in the spring of 2014, and it was based on
phone and email responses from district directors of curriculum
and technology, who were asked to comment on the coming
academic year. More than 500 surveys were completed, divided
between technology administrators and curriculum directors,
according to mdR.
-SEAN CAVANAGH
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
"Districts Taking Charge of the Principal Pipeline"
TIME OUT FOR REFLECTION
A student having a challenging day spends some time alone in an "individualized classroom" at the Don Sherrill
Education Center in Lincoln, Neb. The Success Schools program is for students whose behavior problems have
disrupted classrooms and made it difficult for other students to learn.
4 | EDUCATION WEEK | January 28, 2015 | www.edweek.org
Six urban school districts receiving a combined $75 million
in philanthropic funding are seizing opportunities to improve
school leadership by better training principals, and supporting
and evaluating them on the job, a new report finds.
That conclusion comes from the third-year evaluation of the
Principal Pipeline Initiative, the multimillion dollar investment
by the New York City-based Wallace Foundation in large districts
Eric Gregory/The Journal-Star/AP
Bob Mack/The Florida Times-Union/AP

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Education Week - January 28, 2015

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