Education Week - April 23, 2014 - 5

REPORT ROUNDUP www.edweek.org/go/rr
EARLY CHILDHOOD
tricts for allegedly failing to provide
high school girls with opportunities
for sports participation equal
to those of boys.
The first set of complaints was
dismissed by the U.S. Department
of Education's office for civil rights
because they "did not provide facts
in support of the allegations," according
to the OCR.
The new complaints include updated
information. For example,
complainants cite 2011-12 data
for Westview High School in Beaverton
that show a school enrollment
of 48 percent girls and 52
percent boys. But 63 percent of the
athletes are boys, and 37 percent
are girls, an 11-percentage-point
gap between girls' sports involvement
and their share of school
enrollment.
-MCT
At Largest Cyber Charter
In Pa., Teachers Unionize
Teachers at the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter School, the largest
of its kind in the state, have voted
to unionize.
The teachers voted 71-34 to form
a bargaining unit. The National
Labor Relations Board must certify
the vote before the Pennsylvania
State Education Association can
begin bargaining on behalf of the
teachers.
The school, also known as PA
Cyber, is based in Midland in Beaver
County. The public K-12 school
has 115 teachers and draws more
than 11,000 students from districts
across the state.
PA Cyber officers said they are
going to bargain in good faith.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Applications for Vouchers
Soar After Push in Arizona
An aggressive media campaign
and expanded eligibility helped
double the number of applicants
for Arizona's school voucher program,
which allows students to
use public funds for a private
education.
The number of applications received
by the Arizona education
department for the 2014-15 school
year is 2,479, compared with the
current year's 1,100.
Legislators expanded the pro-
gram last year to include children
from schools that have received a
poor grade from the state, and to
those with active-duty military parents.
The program was created in
2011 for students with disabilities.
Legislators this year have proposed
several measures to further
expand the program. One proposal
would have expanded eligibility to
a majority of Arizona students, but
the bill has so far not been heard by
the House.
-AP
CORRECTION
An incorrect credit was given for
the Page 1 photograph about fieldtesting
of common-core-aligned
exams in the April 16, 2014, issue
of Education Week. The photograph
was taken by Steve Hebert.
Captain Underpants, Bluest Eye
Top Most-Challenged-Book List
The American Library Association
has issued its annual list of
books most frequently targeted
for removal from library shelves
because of claims they're inappropriate
reading for young people.
The list is part of the ALA's
annual "State of America's Libraries"
report. The most-challenged-books
list is in the intellectual-freedom
section of the
report, which also details fights
over books that were resolved
1
Captain Underpants (series)
Dav Pilkey
REASONS: Offensive language,
unsuited for age group, violence
2
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
REASONS: Offensive language,
sexually explicit, unsuited to age
group, violence
3
The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie
REASONS: Drugs/alcohol/smoking,
offensive language, racism, sexually
explicit, unsuited to age group
4
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James
REASONS: Nudity, offensive language,
religious viewpoint, sexually explicit,
unsuited to age group
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
REASONS: Religious viewpoint,
unsuited to age group
5
without yanking them.
The ALA's office of intellectual
freedom defines a challenge as a
"formal, written complaint filed
with a library or school" that requests
reading material be "restricted
or removed because of its
content or appropriateness." In
2013, that number was 307, far
fewer than the 464 filed in 2012,
and far lower than the number of
challenges filed each year of the
1980s and '90s. -CATHERINE GEWERTZ
A Bad Boy Can Be
Good for a Girl
Tanya Lee Stone
REASONS: Drugs/alcohol/smoking,
nudity, offensive language, sexually
explicit
6
SPORTS INJURIES
"Risks of Intense, Specialized Training and Growth for Young Athletes:
A Clinical Evaluation"
7
Looking for Alaska
John Green
REASONS: Drugs/alcohol/smoking,
sexually explicit, unsuited to age
group
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
REASONS: drugs/alcohol/smoking,
homosexuality, sexually explicit,
unsuited to age group
8
Bless Me Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya
REASONS: Occult/Satanism, offensive
language, religious viewpoint,
sexually explicit
9
10 Bone (series)
Jeff Smith
REASONS: Political viewpoint, racism,
violence
Youth-athletes from higher-income families are 68 percent more
likely to suffer serious overuse injuries compared to lower-income
athletes, according to a new study presented this month at the
American Medical Society for Sports Medicine's annual meeting in
New Orleans.
The study examined 1,190 youth-athletes between the ages of
7 and 18 who were seen at primary-care and sports-medicine clinics
at Loyola University Health System and the Ann & Robert H.
Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. As a proxy for socioeconomic
status, the researchers determined the insurance status for all
but 69 of the youth-athletes enrolled in the study (1,121 in total).
If the athletes picked a main sport, quit all other sports to focus
on one sport, and spent more than eight months per year training
and competing in a single sport, they were defined as having a
high degree of sports specialization.
Thirty percent of privately insured athletes-but only 18 percent
of publicly insured athletes-were highly specialized in one sport.
Likewise, 13 percent of privately insured athletes suffered serious
overuse injuries, compared with only 8 percent of those who were
publicly insured.
-BRYAN A. TOPOREK
HISPANIC STUDENTS
"Latino College Completion: United States"
For a snapshot of how Latino students are doing when it comes to
finishing college, Excelencia in Education has released 53 fact sheets
and an online interactive tool showing degree completion in each
state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Officials with Excelencia, an organization that advocates for education
attainment for Latinos, hope that the information will provide
policymakers with examples of model programs to improve Latino
college completion.
In the two years since Washington-based Excelencia in Education
last released fact sheets, the gap in graduation rates of first-time,
full-time Latino and white students has narrowed from 14 percent to
9 percent. Nearly 41 percent of Latino students graduated within 150
percent of program time, compared with 50 percent of all students.
The materials give state-level data on the Latino population, its
K-12 representation, adult educational attainment, and equity gaps.
-CARALEE J. ADAMS
RURAL SCHOOLS
"The Effects of Rurality on College Access and Choice"
Students in rural counties are less likely to attend college, and
those who do are less likely to choose a four-year, private, or highly
selective institution, according to a recent report.
Andrew Koricich, an assistant professor of higher education at
Texas Tech University in Lubbock, analyzed federal higher education
and longitudinal data to determine how living in a rural community
influences postsecondary choices. His study found that about 64
percent of rural students pursue postsecondary education, compared
to nearly 70 percent of students who live in metro areas. Nationally,
about 66 percent of graduating high school students enroll in a postsecondary
institution.
Of those students in the study who attended college, 47 percent
of rural students chose a two-year institution, compared to about
38 percent of students living in metro areas.
-JACKIE MADER
EDUCATION WEEK | April 23, 2014 | www.edweek.org | 5
"2012-2013 Children's Outcomes and Program Quality
In the North Carolina Pre-K Program"
North Carolina's state-funded pre-K program for 4-year-olds has
produced better-than-expected positive outcomes for participants,
new research says.
Significant gains were seen across all areas of learning including
language and literacy skills, math skills, general knowledge, and
social skills, states the report released earlier this month.
"Children are progressing at an even greater rate during their
participation in NC Pre-K than expected for normal developmental
growth," said Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, who led the research team
that evaluated the program at the University of North Carolina's
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in Chapel Hill.
In addition, preschoolers with lower levels of English proficiency
made greater gains on standardized tests than their peers for
some skills, suggesting that the program is especially beneficial
for such children, the report states.
The study also notes a steady increase in the proportion of teachers
holding bachelor's degrees and the appropriate licenses.
-JULIE BLAIR
Bookshelf: iStockphoto
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Education Week - April 23, 2014

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