Greta’s Note: Thank you for your interest and support for law and education, and I hope to talk to you in the new year!
10. New technological innovations such as e-textbooks, tutoring software, virtual schools and distance learning, and student performance-tracking programs are helping students learn better and changing the dynamics of the student-teacher relationship. Their widespread use, however, still lie in the future.
9. “Merit pay” and “accountability” are the buzzwords once again as state legislatures rush to eliminate barriers to link student performance and teacher evaluation in order to comply with requirements for the Race to the Top funding.
8. Chicago and other school districts around the country begin to use socio-economic data instead of race in an effort to integrate their public schools after a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited schools from using race as a factor in school assignment.
7. Education schools came under criticism, including from Education Secretary Arne Duncan, for lack of standards and rigorous methodology.
6. In a year where the courts showed much judicial restraint and deferred to the school board on education issues, the Supreme Court decided in Safford v. Redding that the strip search of a 13-year-old girl on suspicion that she had prescription-strength ibuprofen violated the Fourth Amendment.
5. Hard-hit by the economy, states across the nation cut educational funding. Universities respond by freezing salaries, implementing hiring caps, halting construction projects, cutting services, laying off staff, and raising tuition.
4. Congress considered reform to student loans but wavers on more decisive and drastic changes to the existing structure.
3. The economic downturn drive students away from 4-year private colleges in 2009 while community colleges experienced the highest enrollment in years. Some become so crowded that administrators devise creative ways to accommodate students, such as 2 a.m. classes.
2. NAEP scores stagnate and disappoint educators, raising fears that the U.S. will not meet achievement goals set by President Bush and No Child Left Behind. Racial achievement gap also appears to be firmly in place.
1. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Race to the Top program that will distribute a total of $4.35 billion to states with the best school reform proposals. Educators hope that the program would help states shape and implement wide-ranging reform measures in their public schools.
Filed under: affirmative action, No Child Left Behind, primary and secondary education, public education, public universities, student rights, the achievement gap, tuition and financial aid | 3 Comments »