PA Philadelphia District Seeks Ways to Boost Teacher Attendance - On average, about 6% of Philadelphia's public school teachers are absent daily--a higher rate than the state's overall average in 2001-02 and chief executive officer Paul Vallas wants to do something about it. [Free registration/login required to view this article.]

Tools For School Improvement Planning - This helpful website contains observation protocols, focus group samples and questions, surveys, questionnaires, and other techniques to help examine specific school-improvement concerns. In the tools section, is a database of new and innovative tools used throughout the country, organized into school-improvement focus areas.

Using a Discipline System to Promote Learning - On returning to the classroom after 24 years, Marvin Marshall struggled to maintain discipline. In Part 1 of this article, he describes how his frustration led him to develop a system -- incorporating the ideas and strategies of Stephen Covey, William Glasser, Abraham Maslow, and others -- that would promote responsible behavior by internally motivating students. In Part 2, Kerry Weisner describes the positive changes in her students' behavior and learning after she implemented Mr. Marshall's program in her classroom.

CO Later Best for Learning? - Denver Public Schools is considering starting high schools at 9 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m., ending the day at 4:15 p.m. Sleep researchers are urging school districts to start high school classes later to reduce the number of exhausted, cranky teens. Not getting enough sleep puts teens at risk for falling asleep behind the wheel, keeps them from concentrating in class and leaves them feeling depressed and irritable, researchers have found.
 

Overlooked HR Departments Important to School District Reform - School district human resource (HR) offices play a crucial, but often overlooked, role in the success of school improvement efforts because they can determine whether qualified teacher and leadership candidates are successfully recruited, or look elsewhere for work. Efforts to make district HR offices an ally in district-wide reform efforts depend as much on close attention from superintendents and school boards as on changing bureaucratic routines.

FL Cypress Bay High Students Wear Belly Suits to Simulate Realities of Pregnancy - It took only a few seconds to turn 15-year-old Ben Stratton from a lanky, wisecracking freshman at Cypress Bay High into a complaining, winded 9-months-pregnant mother.

U.S. Commentary: Total Poverty Awareness - What works is an intensive, holistic approach like the one used by the Maya Angelou Charter School in Washington. Most students arrive in 10th grade reading at sixth- or seventh-grade levels; three years later 70 percent go to college.

U.S. Military Schools Producing Army of Solid Performance - When U.S. Army Maj. Tony Fish and his family moved to Fort Campbell, Ky., they faced a yearlong wait to move into housing on post. Instead of settling in a nearby town, Fish and his wife, Judy, seized on an unorthodox approach: They spent $100,000 on a recreational vehicle and set up housekeeping on the post's campground — all so their two kids could immediately begin attending classes at Fort Campbell.

PA School District Finds Block Scheduling Doesn't Deliver Higher Test Scores - In the mid-1990s, the Coatesville Area School District traded in its traditional high-school schedule for a new format with fewer classes, but longer class periods, hoping that more in-depth classroom study would produce higher test scores.

U.S. Using Brains as a Guide in Class - At Laura Erlauer Myrah's Wisconsin elementary school, teachers don't start class behind their desks. Instead, they are in their doorways, shaking students' hands and patting their shoulders, chatting about weekends and activities and birthdays.

Time to Make Senior Year in High School More Meaningful - Calls to eliminate the senior year in high school, or modify it to be more useful, are being considered around the country. And Michigan educators should take a leading role in reform so students get their full 13 years of education. The senior year of many students can be pretty much a waste, according to both anecdotes and research.

IN When the Students Become the Teachers - Indianapolis teacher Jerry Hammes has a secret weapon to help the students in his first-period class improve their grades: peer tutoring. [Free login/registration required to view this article.]

UT Dull Texts Can Turn History Into Bedtime Stories - "Lifeless and dry . . . crowded and cheesy . . . a clutter of unrelated factoids . ." The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit education group, conducted an independent critique of 12 widely used U.S. and world history texts, nine of which are approved for Utah classrooms. The panel found the books so bland, so purged of personality, they could have been published in Pleasantville.

UT Reading Goes To The Dogs - Colonel marches into Longview Elementary, offers a toothy smile and handshake to a stranger, and leaps into his chair, ready for work. In his clutch, however, is one strange briefcase: A chew toy. As states across the country work to build children's literacy skills, some Utah schools are throwing reading to the dogs. Man's best friend is working in a handful of schools and several public libraries to help readers improve, boost their self-esteem, instill a love for the written word — or just have fun.

CA One Urban, California School Breaks the Mold - One downtown elementary school hit the gold standard four years ago and never looked back. "Our secret? It's so simple, nobody would believe it," said Principal Leonard Wong.

Rand Study Highlights Challenges Facing Middle Schools - Middle school students in the United States feel less positive about learning conditions and report more physical and emotional problems at their schools than their peers in 11 other nations, according to a RAND Corporation study that highlights challenges facing American middle schools.

U.S. Feds to Loosen Limits on Same-sex Schools - Federal officials plan to significantly loosen their restrictions on same-sex public education, giving schools the most freedom they've had to teach boys and girls separately in almost 30 years. In changing its enforcement of Title IX, the landmark law that prohibited sex-based discrimination in schools, the Education Department says it will expand choices for parents without eroding equal opportunity. The regulations announced Wednesday reflect a push by both the Bush administration and female senators of both parties to give schools flexibility.