Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

7-28-16 Education in the News

Star Ledger--Meet the Rutgers professor banning the use of technology in class

NEWARK — If you are taking Professor Stuart Green's criminal law lecture class at Rutgers School of Law next semester, don't even think about whipping out your laptop, phone or tablet.

Green is dialing back the clock and requiring students to take handwritten notes – with old-fashioned pen and paper -- in his classes on the Newark campus. Laptops and other devices are banned.

The veteran Rutgers professor says he is fed up with students using their laptops to multitask in class. Green says he has sat in the back of the classrooms of other professors' classes and watched some students diligently using their laptops to type notes.

http://www.nj.com/education/2016/07/meet_the_rutgers_law_professor_banning_the_use_of_technology_in_class.html#incart_most_shared-education

Kelly Heyboer | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| July 27, 2016 at 8:12 AM, updated July 27, 2016 at 10:11 AM

 

The Record--Christie to push school funding plan in Fair Lawn today

Governor Christie plans to promote his school funding formula at a forum in Fair Lawn Thursday.

Earlier this month, Christie cancelled a planned visit to Fair Lawn in order to campaign with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Virginia.

Christie expects to discuss his school formula at the Fair Lawn Senior Center at 11 a.m. at 11-05 Gardiner Road, the latest of several stops he has made to tout his plan.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has also been traveling across the state to promote a rival school aid funding formula.

Christie seeks to amend the state Constitution and allow the state to divide up the $9.1 billion that that state spends on K-12 education by giving each school district $6,599 per pupil.

His plan would discard the current system of weighting state aid according to student needs and district demographics.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-to-push-school-funding-plan-in-fair-lawn-today-1.1635695

By JOHN C. ENSSLIN| STATE HOUSE BUREAU | The Record| July 28, 2016

Education Week-- U.S. Issues Federal Guidelines to Prevent Discrimination Against Students With ADHD

The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines aimed at preventing schools from discriminating against the growing numbers of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

In a letter to school districts and a “know your rights” document to be posted on its website Tuesday, the department said schools must obey existing civil rights law to identify students with the disorder and provide them with accommodations to help them learn.

The guidelines come in response to years of complaints from parents who say that their children have been denied needed services and that schools have failed to protect them from bullying. The Education Department, which has received roughly 2,000 such complaints over the last five years, said schools have requested clarification of their responsibilities under the law.

“Many … [teachers] are not familiar with this disorder,” Catherine Lhamon, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in the letter. “The failure to provide needed services to students with disabilities can result in serious social, emotional and educational harm.”

The number of children being diagnosed with ADHD—a neurobiological disorder characterized by impulsivity, hyperactivity or inattentiveness—has soared over the last decade.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/07/27/us-issues-federal-guidelines-to-prevent-discrimination.html

By Joy Resmovits, Los Angeles Times| July 27, 2016