Education Week - May 9, 2018 - 4

NEWS IN BRIEF
Federal Directive Hasn't Changed
Discipline Practices, Survey Finds
A new survey by the AASA, the School Superintendents Association, reveals that few districts modified
their discipline policies and practices as a result of
guidance that came out of the Obama administration.
The survey of 950 district leaders in 47 states
comes at a time when U.S. Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos is considering revoking the guidance,
which aims to drive down racially disparate rates
of discipline.
Of those that made changes because of the directive, 4.5 percent of respondents, less than 1 percent
of all respondents, indicated that it had a negative
or very negative impact on staff members' ability to
address disciplinary issues. And 44 percent of respondents who'd made changes because of the guidance, 7 percent of total respondents, indicated that
it has been a positive experience.
That's not to say that schools haven't changed
their discipline policies, but most haven't cited the

guidance as the cause for doing so. Some instead
pointed to more aggressive use of systemic investigations by the Department of Education's office for
civil rights that started in 2009.
-EVIE BLAD

Education Department to Give Millions
In Disaster Aid to Puerto Rico, States
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced last week that two states and Puerto Rico
will receive nearly $700 million in federal money to
help their schools recover from natural disasters.
Puerto Rico will receive $589 million from the Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations program,
while Texas will receive $89.4 million and California
will get $14.4 million. Hurricanes Irma and Maria
hit Puerto Rico last year, causing significant damage
to the U.S. territory's schools,. Meanwhile, Hurricane
Harvey caused significant damage to the Houston
area, and California experienced some of its worst
wildfires in recent history late last year.
The money will be distributed by state education
agencies to districts to help them cover costs asso-

ciated with recovery from disasters and recreate a
"normal learning environment."
-ANDREW UJIFUSA

Board, Prosecutors Challenge Release
Of More Stoneman Douglas Video

A Welcoming
Educator
Mandy Manning, a
teacher at Joel E.
Ferris High School in
Spokane, Wash., shows
off her National
Teacher of the Year
award, which President
Donald Trump
presented during a
reception at the White
House last week. She
teaches English and
math to newly arrived
refugee and immigrant
students.

Prosecutors are joining the Broward County school
board in moving to block the public release of footage
captured by security cameras outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during
the shootings that killed 17.
Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson authorized the public release of additional video on April
18, giving the district two weeks to review the footage and determine whether to appeal.
The board did not object to the release in March
of footage that focused on now-retired Sheriff's
Deputy Scot Peterson, the school resource officer
who stayed outside the building while the shooting
was going on. But lawyers for the board argued in
court that the other video will expose the limits of
the cameras on campus and weaken school security. And the Broward state attorney's office said
that the video records are the subject of an ongoing
criminal investigation, which makes them exempt
from public release.
-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Maryland Official Blocks Appointment
Of Superintendent for Baltimore County
Maryland's top public education official has
blocked the appointment of a Baltimore County
schools superintendent, citing ethical lapses.
State schools Superintendent Karen Salmon
says a violation reported by the county school
board's ethics panel was her main reason for
blocking Verletta White's appointment. The panel
found White didn't disclose a job linked to ex-Superintendent Dallas Dance, who was sentenced
last month to six months on perjury charges.
Salmon also said the school system's failure to
audit its contract award process played a role.
White has served as interim superintendent since
July. The board voted last month to make her appointment permanent.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carolyn Kaster/AP

All on Campus During Parkland Shootings
Eligible for Share of Victims' Fund

Report Roundup

Everyone who was on the Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School campus during the Feb. 14
mass shootings in Parkland, Fla., will be eligible
to receive a share of the victims' fund created by
the Broward Education Foundation.
That decision is in a final plan for distribution of

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YOUNG CHILDREN
"Early Childhood Curiosity and Kindergarten
Reading and Math Academic Achievement"
Ever since the landmark "marshmallow
test" highlighted the importance of early selfcontrol in later achievement, educators have
worked to find ways to build self-regulation
among young children. But a new study in the
journal Pediatric Research suggests boosting
children's natural curiosity may be equally
crucial to their long-term learning.
University of Michigan researchers tracked
6,200 children participating in the federal Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, which is nationally representative.
In addition to testing children's early-math
and -literacy skills, the study gauged traits,
such as invention, imagination, attention to new
tasks, and eagerness to learn new skills. The researchers found that even after controlling for
differences in children's backgrounds and pre-

school attendance, their curiosity-in particular their "eagerness to learn new things"-was
as good a predictor of their later kindergarten
math and reading achievement as were early
measures of self-control-especially for pupils
in poverty.
SARAH D. SPARKS
JOB STRESS
"Empirically Derived Profiles of Teacher Stress,
Burnout, Self-Efficacy and Coping and Associated
Student Outcomes"
Most teachers experience high levels of burnout and stress-and those conditions may be
affecting their students' achievement, a recent
study says.
The study, conducted by University of Missouri, Columbia researchers and published in
the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions,
measured the levels of stress, burnout, and
coping abilities of 121 teachers at elementary
schools in a Midwestern school district, as well

4 | EDUCATION WEEK | May 9, 2018 | www.edweek.org

as the effects of teacher stress and coping on student outcomes.
Teachers each rated their levels of burnout,
stress, efficacy, and coping on a scale of zero to
10 and filled out checklists on their students'
behavior. A standardized test gauged students'
academic achievement.
Almost all the teachers-93 percent-reported high stress levels, while only 7 percent
were categorized as "well-adjusted."
The teachers who reported the highest levels
of stress and lowest levels of coping were also
linked with the worst student outcomes, which
included lower math scores and more disruptive
behaviors.
-ALIX MAMMINA
CHARTER SCHOOLS
State Education Reforms Database
States vary widely on how they govern charter
schools, new federal data shows.
The information from the U.S. Department

of Education's State Education Reforms website shows that nearly all states lay out charter
schools' responsibilities for special education, but
fewer than half limit how many total charters
can operate.
And more than half of states require charter
schools to use certified teachers, though they
differ on specifics. For example, Illinois requires
all of a school's teachers to be certified at some
charters, but only some at others, while in Idaho
and Colorado, some charter school teachers can
apply for certification waivers.
-S.D.S
ONLINE TESTING
"Is the Pen Mightier Than the Keyboard? The
Effect of Online Testing on Student Achievement"
Asking students and schools to switch from paper-and-pencil to online assessments does affect
students' performance, but problems might be
more short-lived than some educators fear, finds
a study by the American Institutes of Research.

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Education Week - May 9, 2018

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