Schools News Around the Blogosphere

Rendell's graduate skills test in trouble
Philadelphia Inquirer
Dozens of legislators and school boards statewide are objecting. They say local districts are the best judge.
A Rendell administration proposal to establish state high school graduation tests in 10 subjects has generated stiff opposition that threatens to scuttle the initiative.

Billions Needed to Fix Pr. George's Schools
Washington Post
The school system requires $2.1B to fix its aging buildings, according to a study that finds many schools running on antiquated equipment and deteriorating inside and out

The great literacy testing debacle in the United States
EducationNews.org
The United States seems to be caught up in measurement mania when it comes to literacy. The No Child Left Behind law calls for extensive testing of children's reading abilities in different grade levels. For adults, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has developed adult literacy tests, while Title 2: The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of the WorkforceInvestment Act of 1998 calls for accountability measures that the DOE has implemented in a national reporting system that makes extensive use of adult literacy tests.

Special Ed Proposals Draw Scrutiny
Washington Post
Va. plans to give schools more leeway to suspend certain services for students and reduce the number of progress reports families receive. The most controversial proposal would give schools more leeway to suspend certain special services for students, such as speech or occupational health therapy. The targeted services would remain in place if parents object, pending a resolution of the dispute with the school system.
SpecialEdAdvocate.org

Student Tests - and Teacher Grades
Wall Street Journal
By John Merrow
Schools now have plenty of data to be able to see who is learning and why. Suppose a swimming instructor told his 10-year-old students to swim the length of the pool to demonstrate what he'd taught them, and half of them nearly drowned? Would it be reasonable to make a judgment about his teaching ability?

Advanced Placement courses, once a model for learning, are mere memory tests now.
Bursting the AP bubble
Los Angeles Times
By Tom Stanley-Becker
I'M AN AP DROPOUT. When classmates in my Advanced Placement U.S. history course take the AP exam Friday, I won't be with them. When they pick up their pencils and start filling in those little bubbles, I'll be reading the words of George Kennan, Lillian Hellman, Harry Truman and Paul Robeson

Charter-school fans want more
Denver Post
A group of angry parents stood before the Denver school board last month, holding up newspaper articles about a high-performing charter school and asking why their children were unable to receive the same education.