Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

9-30-16 Education in the News

Philadelphia Inquirer--Supreme Court says it will hear special education case

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court says it'll decide the minimum that public schools must do to help learning-disabled students.

The court agreed Thursday to resolve differences among federal appeals court over the standards schools must meet under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The justices will hear an appeal from parents of an autistic child in Colorado. They moved their son to private school for fifth grade after a difficult year in fourth grade. The dispute arose after they asked for reimbursement for the cost of the private schooling.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160929_ap_1171dd0298074b85a6029841e97918a1.html

The Associated Press| Updated: September 29, 2016 — 8:43 AM EDT

 

NY Times--Teaching Teenagers to Cope With Social Stress

Almost four million American teenagers have just started their freshman year of high school. Can they learn better ways to deal with all that stress and insecurity?

New research suggests they can. Though academic and social pressures continue to pile on in high school, teenagers can be taught effective coping skills to skirt the pitfalls of anxiety and depression.

David S. Yeager, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and a leading voice in the growing effort to help college students stay in school, has been turning his attention to younger teenagers to help shore up their resilience at an earlier age.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/health/teenagers-stress-coping-skills.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

JAN HOFFMAN| SEPT. 29, 2016

 

Education Week--School Inspections Offer a Diagnostic Look at Quality

Aiming to get beyond just spreadsheets and test scores, Vermont and other states experiment with inspections to scope out schools' strengths and weaknesses

Educators have gotten used to poring over spreadsheets filled with test scores to get a sense of their students'—and schools'—strengths and weaknesses.

What they don't often see: feedback from other teachers, administrators, and students who can offer a fresh perspective on where a school stands when it comes to instruction, resources, climate, financial efficiency, and more.

A handful of states—including, recently, Vermont—have worked to change that, using a model borrowed from other countries and known in Great Britain as "school inspections," in which a team of experts or educators visits a school and offers objective feedback on teaching, learning, management and more.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/09/28/school-inspections-offer-a-diagnostic-look-at.html

By Alyson Klein| September 27, 2016