Education Week - November 30, 2016 - 1

Education Week
VOL. 36, NO. 14 * NOVEMBER 30, 2016

edweek.org:

2016 ELECTIONS >

Transition

BRE AKING NEWS DAILY

VOICES:
Divisive presidential election
spills into schools.

SCHOOL CHOICE:
Will a President Trump boost
or undermine choice?

EARLY CHILDHOOD:
Child care aside, details scant
on Trump early-years agenda.

ENROLLMENT:
For first family, a decision
ahead on picking a school.

IMMIGRATION:
Educators brace for Trump's
immigration stance.

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PAGE 16

States Eye Control
Of Policy Levers
Flexibility Could Expand in Trump Era

Washington was already poised to return a lot more authority over K-12 policy to states, thanks to the Every Student Succeeds Act, slated to hit school districts next fall.
Now, with President-elect Donald Trump's victory, that process is only likely to accelerate.
State leaders aren't waiting for the new administration
to name all its players or fill in the blanks on in-the-weeds
policy details. They're already charging forward with the
agendas they have been crafting since ESSA's passage a
year ago.
"We don't know the general direction of the new administration," said Chris Minnich, the executive director of
the Council of Chief State School Officers. "But the commitment to coming up with high-quality [ESSA] plans is
consistent across the chiefs. The resolve is to not worry so
much about what the federal government is doing and to
really put together high-quality plans so that when the
federal government is ready to talk about these things, we
know where we are."
In fact, if the Trump administration takes a hands-off approach to accountability, as many expect, it could come as a
welcome change of pace for states, some experts say.
State leaders have spent the past decade and a half
digesting one Washington-driven policy initiative after
another, from the No Child Left Behind Act's annual
tests under President George W. Bush to the Obama
administration's teacher-evaluation and school-turnaround initiatives pushed through under waivers of NCLB
requirements.
"I think the education world is going to ultimately go,
'Whew, thank heavens,' " Vic Klatt, a one-time aide to
Republicans on the House education committee, said at
a postelection event sponsored by the Education Writers

Evan Vucci/AP

By Alyson Klein
& Daarel Burnette II

NEXT STEPS:

Shannon Murphy holds
her 1-year-old son
Tristan, as then-GOP
presidential nominee
Donald Trump delivers
a speech on child care
in Aston, Pa., earlier
this fall. Earlychildhood advocates
are awaiting details
on what the presidentelect's administration
has in store.
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PAGE 20 >

Anxiety on Civil Rights Enforcement
By Mark Walsh
The prospect that the incoming Trump
administration could scale back the federal role in civil rights enforcement in
education has many rights advocates
deeply worried after nearly eight years
of high-profile attention to such issues
under President Barack Obama.
The Obama administration has emphasized such concerns as addressing racial
disparities in school discipline and special
education; ensuring that transgender stu-

Warning Sounded on Tech Disrupting Student Sleep

PAGE 12>

By Catherine Gewertz

Getty

Educators who promote the use of education technology are working harder
to caution students and parents about
the impact of digital devices and the
"blue light" they emit, which can disrupt student sleep patterns.
A recent meta-analysis by British
researchers has brought renewed attention to the issue, calling increased
use of mobile devices at bedtime a
"major public-health concern" for
children and teenagers.
As many schools and districts shift to
1-to-1 device programs, often allowing
students to take those devices home
each night, education leaders are look-

ing for ways to incorporate warnings
about the detrimental effects of mobile
devices on sleep.
"When we hand out iPads, we suggest they aren't stored in the bedroom,"
said Lawrence J. Mussoline, the superintendent of the 13,000-student Downingtown, Pa., district, which features
a 1-to-1 iPad program for 6th graders,
who take the devices home at night.
"We don't want them trying to get in
the mindset to go to sleep at night and
then popping open this screen which
emits blue light."
Nearly three-fourths of children and
89 percent of adolescents have at least
one device in their sleep environment,
with most of them used near bedtime,

PAGE 18 >

ACT to Offer ELL Students
Extra Time for Testing

DIGITAL DIRECTIONS

By Benjamin Herold
& Michelle R. Davis

dents may use the restrooms and locker
rooms corresponding to their gender identity; and combating sexual violence in
higher education. Those have been among
the top priorities of the U.S. Department
of Education's office for civil rights.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Department of
Justice, the educational opportunities section of the civil rights division has reinvigorated desegregation enforcement at a time
when many schools have become more racially isolated, and it has pressed cases on

Children who used a portable
media device at bedtime were

more than 40% more

likely to report poor sleep quality.

ACT Inc. has announced that it will begin offering accommodations for English-learners on the ACT, marking
the first time that students with limited English proficiency will be able to request extra time and other supports on a national college-entrance exam.
Starting in fall 2017, students will be able to apply
through their school counseling offices for several kinds
of accommodations on the ACT. They can request as much
as 50 percent more time than the three hours (or 3½ if
students choose the essay) that are normally allowed for
the exam. They can ask to use an approved bilingual glossary or to have test instructions read to them in their native language. They can also ask to take the test in a place
that minimizes distractions, such as a separate room.
In the past, ACT has not offered accommodations based
solely on a student's English-learner status. The company
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Education Week - November 30, 2016

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