District Administration - April 2009 - (Page 10)

Briefings Newsupdate PeoPle Watch TAKING OVER Tony Bennett, Indiana’s state superintendent of public instruction, plans to funnel help to struggling schools like never before, but he also has aggressive new plans to take over those that fail and run them himself. NEW CONCEPTS Conn. Gov. Jodi Rell is proposing a merger of the state’s technical high schools and community colleges. She claims it would give 10,000 technical high school students a seamless transition to their associate degree. MOVING ON Abelardo Saavedra, the Houston Independent School District’s first Hispanic chief, is stepping down after a five-year run leading the district. During his tenure, the number of top-rated HISD schools doubled to 157. EXIT STRATEGY Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland wants to eliminate the state’s 10th-grade graduation test, which has prevented thousands of students from graduating high school. He plans to replace it with a modified ACT test. TECH CHANGES Jeff Weidenaar has been elected president of the board of directors of the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. by Zach Miners NYC’s New Public Schools Give Students Choice schools or theme schools.” The New York CiTY The new careerpublic school system will themed schools may be include 42 new schools a sign of the times, as this fall according to an CNN recently reported announcement made by that strong vocational Mayor Michael Bloomberg programs, which are in March that has been traditionally found only largely praised by the local in postsecondary trade education community. schools, are now making Among the institutions a comeback at the k12 kids can opt to attend are a level and that colleges are selective film school, three New York Mayor Michael new transfer schools for Bloomberg recently announced taking notice. the creation of 42 new public The number of career high schoolers that have schools to open this fall. high schools recognized fallen behind (the district has opened 13 such schools since 2006), by the University of California rose from 258 in 2000 to more than 4,700 six years and three extra vocational high schools. During the announcement, Mayor later, and experts agree that from a career Bloomberg stressed the importance of standpoint, the fact that technical and school choice in improving school quality vocational schools are being emphasized and touted the district’s rising graduation by high schools indicates that there is a high demand for such professionals. rates and test scores. “we’ve got to keep this process going “Some students might flourish, for example, in small schools or single-sex so that all students in our city get the schools, while others benefit from the great education that i’ve always argued is education offered by specialized high their right,” said Bloomberg. Grad Nation A Guidebook to Help Communities Tackle The Dropout Crisis Striving for a “Grad Nation” MorE THAn onE MIllIon STuDEnTS Drop ouT of HIgH school each year, but a new initiative launched by America’s promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership of corporations, nonprofit organizations, foundations, policymakers and advocacy groups dedicated to children’s education, is trying to change that. The Alliance just announced the release of grad nation, a first-of-its-kind research-based guidebook for communities seeking to reduce their dropout rate and better support young people through high school and beyond. “There is no silver bullet for reducing the nation’s dropout rate,” says Alliance CEo Marguerite Kondracke, “but we know what approaches work, and this guidebook is the first one-stop shop … to impact the problem.” The guidebook includes information on everything from establishing “early warning” systems and implementing school transformation strategies to building multiple pathways to graduation. It is free and available in limited hard copy or pDf at www.americaspromise.org/gradnation. February 2009 10 April 2009 District Administration http://www.americaspromise.org/gradnation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2009

District Administration - April 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Assessment
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Education’s Shot in the Arm
Lessons Learned from Columbine’s 10th Anniversary
An Interview with Columbine’s Superintendent, Cynthia Stevenson
Keeping Track of Technology
Classroom Technology Integration
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Professional Opinion
Research Center
New Products
Product Focus
Online Edge

District Administration - April 2009