Education Week - September 18, 2013 - 4

4 EDUCATION WEEK
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SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 www.edweek.org
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Ky. to Move Forward
On Science Standards
Gov. Steve Beshear plans to implement
the new Kentucky Next
Generation Science Standards
under his own authority, after a
legislative review panel rejected
them last week.
That would allow the standards
to move forward, but the regulation
still could be killed by the full
legislature in January.
Spokesman for the governor
said in a statement that the governor
“views these standards as
a critical component in preparing
Kentuckians for college and
the workforce,” and that they
should be implemented despite
the action.
Terry Holliday, the state’s education
commissioner, issued a statement
praising Gov. Beshear.
Members of the review subcommittee
said they’d been bombarded
by opposition to the standards.
They also said they were
troubled that some basic scientific
concepts weren’t spelled out
in the standards.
The science standards were developed
by a 26-state consortium,
including representatives from
Kentucky.
—McCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
Educator Acquitted
In Ga. Cheating Case
A former Atlanta public schools
administrator charged with influencing
a witness in the district’s
massive cheating scandal was
found not guilty this month by a
jury in Fulton County, Ga.
Tamara Cotman, a former
area director who oversaw more
than 20 schools, was acquitted of
charges that she had instructed
principals to tell investigators
looking into the cheating allegations
to “go to hell.”
The trial was the first to come
after state prosecutors indicted
35 former Atlanta teachers and
administrators, including Beverly
Hall, the former superintendent.
Ms. Hall, a one-time national superintendent
of the year, and her
former colleagues were named in
a 65-count indictment that alleges
they engaged in a broad conspiracy
to make student performance
in the Atlanta district look better
TRANSITIONS
Sheila M. Harrity, the principal of Worcester
Technical High School in Massachusetts, has been
named the 2014 MetLife/NASSP National High
School Principal of the Year. Ms. Harrity was
selected for her work to implement small learning
communities, change the school’s culture, and focus
on preparing the school’s 1,400 students for colleges
and careers, since becoming principal in 2006.
Jeff Raikes, the CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation since May 2008, has announced
that he will step down from the post. He will
remain in the position until a successor is named.
REMEMBERING
9/11
Kellen Savoy, center,
helps present the
colors as students
raise the flag to half
staff at William Lloyd
Meador Elementary
School, in Willis,
Texas. Students and
teachers gathered
before school started
to mark the 12th
anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
than it actually was.
The indictment, which includes
racketeering charges, alleges that
Ms. Hall and the others cheated
on state exams, hid the cheating,
and retaliated against whistleblowers
who tried to expose it.
—LESLI A. MAXWELL
Federal Agencies Issue
Research Guidelines
The Institute of Education Sciences
and the National Science
Foundation have formally released
common guidelines for education
research and development.
The guidelines, first previewed
back in May, are intended to guide
research-investment decisions at
the U.S. Department of Education’s
main research agency and
NSF research in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics
education. They are also supposed
to clarify the evidence expected for
different types of research proposals
from those applying for grants
from the agencies.
The guidelines identify six types
of research that make up an ongoing
cycle of building evidence
in education, from foundational
and early-stage or exploratory re-
search, through design, efficacy, effectiveness,
and scale-up research.
—SARAH D. SPARKS
L.A. Drafts Procedures
For ‘Parent Trigger’
For the first time since Califor-
nia’s controversial parent-trigger
law was passed two years ago,
Los Angeles parents and staff
now have guidelines from the Los
Angeles Unified School District’s
board to help them navigate the
complex process.
The law allows some low-performing
schools to be overhauled
if a majority of parent signatures
can be collected.
The guidance requires schools
affected by parent-trigger efforts
to hold public meetings to present
a range of information about the
school to community members.
The document also specifies that
school employees cannot interfere
with or impede the signaturegathering
process using district
resources such as copiers, paper, or
bulletin boards. Furthermore, staff
may not distribute flyers, leaflets,
or other materials on campus or
during work hours.
—KATIE ASH
Consortium Seeks Bids
For Major Tech Project
One of the two main consortia
of states developing tests aligned
to the Common Core State Standards
is asking for proposals from
vendors to develop an ambitious
array of technology services, including
a platform for delivering
the assessments and a warehouse
for storing reams of data.
The estimated price for that
work: between $16.5 million and
$17.5 million, according to the
organization that issued the 112-
page document, the Partnership
for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers.
Questions have emerged among
state and local officials about
whether the tests, which are
scheduled to be given online during
the 2014-15 academic year,
can be delivered smoothly and at
a manageable cost.
The request for proposal put for-
ward by PARCC, dubbed a “technology
bundle,” requires prospective
vendors to provide a platform for
delivering the tests and develop a
data-management and -reporting
system.
–SEAN CAVANAGH
Report Finds Flaws
In Race to the Top
A new report by the Economic
Policy Institute finds big flaws in
the Race to the Top program and
questions how much the $4 billion
spent to spur education improvements
in states will improve student
outcomes.
The report was released last
week by the American Association
of School Administrators and
the Broader Bolder Approach to
Education, a national campaign
launched by the institute. Race
to the Top, the Obama administration’s
signature education
improvement tool, led to a fierce
competition among states. Eleven
states and the District of Columbia
shared the original $4 billion.
The report found that states:
set goals for improving student
achievement that will be nearly
impossible to make; encountered
numerous delays in implementing
teacher-evaluation systems;
and, focused on the tested subjects
at the expense of others,
particularly when it comes to
evaluating educators who work
in nontested subjects, such as the
arts.
—MICHELE McNEIL
Ind. Records Eyed
For Political Role
Email correspondence and computer
data near the end of his
tenure suggest that former Indiana
Superintendent Tony Bennett
may have skirted a state law
that prohibits the use of state resources
for political purposes.
In an Aug. 28, 2012, email obtained
by the Associated Press, for
example, Mr. Bennett asked his
staff to review a campaign speech
by his opponent in the November
election, Glenda Ritz, and to identify
“every inaccuracy and utterance
of stupidity that comes out of
her mouth.” The AP also reported
that three of Mr. Bennett’s fundraising
lists and a “donor list” were
discovered on state computers.
Indiana law prohibits the use of
state resources for political purposes.
Violations are punishable
by up to three years in prison.
Mr. Bennett and his then-chief
of staff, Heather Neal, denied to
the AP that they used Indiana
education department resources
in his unsuccessful re-election bid.
Public prosecutors in Indiana declined
to comment on the information
from the AP.
—ANDREW UJIFUSA
Ark. Board to Permit
Schools to Arm Staff
A state board is allowing 13 Arkansas
school districts to continue
employing teachers, administrators,
and other staff as armed security
guards, despite a warning from the
state’s top lawyer that the licensing
law they relied on is intended for
private security companies.
The Arkansas Board of Private
Investigators and Security Agencies
ruled last week that schools
can continue using the licenses
for two more years. It won’t accept
Jason Fochtman/The Courier/AP
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Education Week - September 18, 2013

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