News Items
The
National Science Foundation (NSF) recently joined the InCommon Federation to
provide NSF's research and education community simpler and easier access to
online services.
In 1998,
in response to the growing number of new science teachers in local schools and
mindful of how difficult it is to retain new teachers, the Teacher Institute
created the Teacher Induction Program. The program is designed to support new
science teachers in their first two years of teaching (the Beginning Teacher
Program) and to train mentors and classroom coaches to work with the new
teachers (the Leadership Program). It’s an alarming fact that more than a third
of beginning teachers leave the profession within the first few years. Research
indicates that
the single most effective way to prevent this exodus is
by supporting the beginning teacher in those early years of in
the profession.
Mr. Kress served as senior
advisor to President George W. Bush on education with respect to the No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001. He also previously served as
president of the board of trustees of the Dallas Public Schools. Sandy Kress'
practice focuses on public law and policy at the state and national levels with
a strong focus on education matters, including policies, reform and
accountability.
K-12 technology survey reveals interactive
whiteboards, laptops are most useful classroom
tools.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released a
report describing a strategy to promote preservation and access to digital
scientific data. The report, Harnessing the Power of Digital Data for Science
and Society, was produced by the NSTC's Committee on Science under the auspices
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of
the President. March 23, 2009 click on title for full
article.
Better enforcement is largely responsible for a rise in
online sex arrests, researchers say.
More people have been arrested in recent years for sexually
soliciting youths online, but the sharp increase comes from better enforcement,
and the internet remains a relatively safe social environment, researchers said
in a new study.
In a report released March 31, the researchers saw a nearly
fivefold jump in arrests for soliciting undercover investigators who posed as
juveniles--to 3,100 in 2006, up from 644 in 2000, the last time the study was
conducted. Click on title for full article.
Gayathri Jacobs is one of 21 psychologists in her California
school district, but not for long. Her school board just voted to eliminate all
of the psychologist positions, save one. They also voted to issue pink slips to
all high school librarians, three nurses, seven counselors, and dozens of
teachers. If the plan goes forward, 25 percent of the district’s educators will
be without jobs. That’s a lot of pink.
Obama's Taps
Arne Duncan for Secretary of Education - Arne
Duncan, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, is President-elect Barack Obama's
choice for U.S. Secretary of Education, according to knowledgeable sources. Obama
is expected to officially announce Duncan's selection this morning, Dec.
16. Duncan, 44, has run the country's third-biggest school district (after New
York City and Los Angeles) for the past seven years. He
has focused on improving struggling schools, closing those that fail. Click on
title for full article.