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Archive for December, 2011

ATLANTA – It was the year of the test cheating scandal.

From Atlanta to Philadelphia and Washington to Los Angeles, officials have accused hundreds of educators of changing answers on tests or giving answers to students. Just last week, Georgia investigators revealed that dozens of educators in Dougherty County either cheated or failed to prevent cheating on 2009 standardized tests.

In July, those same investigators accused nearly 180 educators in almost half of Atlanta’s 100 schools of cheating dating back to 2001 — which experts have called the largest cheating scandal in U.S. history.

Experts say some educators have bowed to the mounting pressure under the federal No Child Left Behind law as schools’ benchmarks increase each year. Teachers in Atlanta reported that administrators created a culture of fear and intimidation.

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Follow Dorie Turner at http://www.twitter.com/dorieturner.

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HARTFORD, Conn. – State education officials say Connecticut’s high school graduation rate improved in 2010, but nearly 1 in 5 students failed to complete high school within four years.

The state Department of Education released a report Thursday showing that 18.2 percent of students failed to finish high school in four years, down from 20.7 percent in 2009. But whites and Asians continued to graduate at higher rates than black, Hispanic and low-income students.

Four-year graduation rates for whites and Asians were nearly 89 percent last year. The same rates for blacks, Hispanics and low-income students were 69 percent, 64 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

The report also showed suburban schools had much higher graduation rates than urban ones.

State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor wants to redouble efforts to improve the graduation rates.

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– The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that there was a rise in reports of sexual assault at the nation’s military academies in the most recent school year and announced new policies to help victims.

The “Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at Military Service Academies” found that during the 2010-11 year there were 65 reports of sexual assaults involving cadets and midshipmen, up from 41 in the prior year.

To help address the jump, the academies are implementing two new policies.

Service members who have been victims of sexual assault will now be able to request an expedited transfer from their units. The military will now also retain records of sexual assaults longer — in some cases as long as 50 years.

“We know that the military academies are similar to college campuses around the country in that sexual harassment and assault are challenges that all faculty, staff and students need to work to prevent,” said Major General Mary Kay Hertog, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

“However, when it does occur, we owe it to those who have been victimized, and to every cadet and midshipman, to do everything possible to provide needed support and to hold those who commit sexual assault appropriately accountable.”

As part of the review process, Department of Defense officials visited the U.S. Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy and reviewed academy policies and procedures. They also held focus groups.

Officials found most academy programs fulfilled or in some cases surpassed existing policies and directives, but Hertog said they have also identified areas for improvement.

(Reporting by Karin Matz; Editing by James B. Kelleher and Jerry Norton)

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PORT HARCOURT – Assailants threw a crude homemade bomb into an Arabic school in southern Nigeria’s Delta state overnight, police said, wounding seven people and escalating tensions between Muslims and Christians after a spate of church bombings across the nation.

Six of the wounded were children younger than nine.

The attack around 10 p.m. on Tuesday came two days after Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets by Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed around 32 lives in a coordinated strike which seemed aimed at igniting sectarian strife.

“Some men driving in a Camry car threw a low capacity explosive into a building where an Arabic class was taking place,” police spokesman Charles Muka said.

“Children aged between four and nine were taking a lesson. Six children were injured and one adult,” he said.

He said police suspected a local vigilante group.

Boko Haram, a sect which aims to impose Islamic sharia law across Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the blasts, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage.

The worst attack killed at least 27 people in the St Theresa Catholic church in Madalla, a town on the edge of the capital Abuja, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars as worshippers poured out of the church after Christmas mass.

Analysts say the attacks risk reviving sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.

Northern Nigerian Christians fear the Christmas Day bombings could lead to a religious war in Africa’s most populous country.

Separately, a family of four was killed in a machete attack on Wednesday in Nigeria’s ethnically and religiously mixed Plateau state — on the threshold of the country’s largely Muslim north and its mostly Christian south.

There was no suggestion the killings had any link to Sunday’s church bombings, as the victims were Christians.

Plateau is a tinderbox of ethnic and religious rivalries over land and power between local people and migrants from other areas.

These often take the form of sectarian strife between the state’s Christian and Muslim communities, and it is thought likely to be the first place to blow up should a wider conflict start.

(Additional reporting by Buhari Bello and Tim Cocks in Jos; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – A lawsuit brought by the parents of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant in Massachusetts who committed suicide after relentless bullying, was settled for $ 225,000, according to documents made public Tuesday.

The settlement with the town of South Hadley and its school department was reached more than a year ago, but the details were kept under wraps until a journalist won a court order for the release of the information.

The documents show that Prince’s parents settled claims against the town and its school department for $ 225,000. In return, the parents promised to release the plaintiffs from any further claims.

The documents were released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which represented Slate reporter Emily Bazelon in her bid to for the disclosure of the settlement.

“This is a victory for the public’s right to know and for transparency in government,” said Bill Newman, an attorney with the ACLU’s legal office in western Massachusetts.

Prince hanged herself in January 2010 after classmates taunted her after she dated a popular boy. She had recently moved from Ireland to South Hadley, a rural town about 100 miles west of Boston.

Five students later accepted plea deals in criminal cases connected with bullying that preceded her death. None involved prison time.

Prince’s death drew international attention and was among several high-profile teen suicides that prompted new laws aimed at cracking down on bullying in schools. All school districts in Massachusetts are now required to develop bullying prevention plans.

After unsuccessful attempts to gain access to details of the settlement, which was reached with the town and its insurer in November 2010, Bazelon sought a court order to release the information under the state’s public records law.

In an order dated Dec. 23, Superior Court Judge Mary Lou-Rup ruled in favor of Bazelon, saying the town had not shown what harm would be caused by disclosure of the settlement. The judge noted that the Prince family had not registered an objection to releasing the details.

Edward Ryan, lawyer for the town, did not immediately return an after-hours call Tuesday seeking comment.

Ryan had argued in court that the settlement was not a public document and that all parties involved had agreed to keep it confidential.

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Today in sports: the NFL revises its concussion policy, the “fight of the century” faces another setback, and Paul Quinn College meets America on ESPN.

Related: Penn State Tries to Outdo Grand Jury in Child Sex Probe

Penn State University police won’t be pursuing charges against starting quarterback Matt McGloin and wide receiver Curtis Drake for their post-practice fight last week. McGloin ended suffering a concussion and a seizure after slipping and hitting his head on the locker room’s concrete floor while trying to throw a punch at Drake during the scuffle, which witnesses say lasted all of 10 seconds, and may cost the Nittany Lions their quarterback for the Cotton Bowl next month. [ESPN]

Related: When Is It OK to Destroy Your Diploma?

The NFL’s investigation into why Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy reentered the team’s December 8 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers just two plays after taking a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit has caused the league to change its policy on how potential concussions are treated during games. Effective immediately, “a certified athletic trainer” from a “major college football program in the area” will be on hand to help medical staffs evaluate head injuries. The trainer won’t have the authority to remove a player from the game. It’s looking inevitable that the NFL Players Association’s proposal for an independent neurologist on the sidelines at every game to treat concussion will become a reality, though the league is worried that such a diagnostic process could create delays and uncertainty as teams wait to hear word back. Using the trainers over the last two weeks and into the playoffs may be the league’s idea of compromise, but the problem is they still will lack the power to override the team and pull a concussed player out of the game. [Pro Football Talk]

Related: Paterno’s Name Wiped Off Trophy; Controversy Surrounds Second Mile Charity

Of the 1,200 head coaches and assistant coaches in Division I football, 16 went to the University of Iowa as undergrads. Factor in the number of coaches who worked as assistants with the team but didn’t go to school in Iowa City, and the results are impressive enough for The Wall Street Journal to deem Iowa “The Harvard of Coaching.” People have said similar things about Bowling Green University and the University of Miami in Ohio, which at various points have been christened “the cradle of coaches.” What set Iowa apart was the sideline philosophy of Hayden Fry, now 82, who coached the team from 1979 to 1998 and developed a unique procurement system whereby “certain players to serve as player-coaches for their position groups.” Fry called these players his “bell cows” and they unknowingly serving in a kind of coaching intern program while still playing for the Hawkeyes. If they were interested in coaching when they finished school, Fry was quick to give his former players “entry-level coaching jobs on his staff—usually as graduate assistants,” a big-boost considering the usual coaching career path begins back as an assistant coach at the high school or junior high level. Players had the chance to advance quickly, and when they wanted to move to a new school, Fry proved himself “gifted at singing their praises” and selling other athletic directors on Iowa as a coaching factory during his 18 years at the school. The reputation endures. [The Wall Street Journal]

Related: Joe Pa’s Discipline Gap; Tim Tebow Chooses Jesus Over Jake Plummer

The already slim odds of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao resolving their many vague, possibly imaginary differences and getting into the ring for the fight boxing fans have wanted for a decade took another hit yesterday when Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail after he entered a guilty plea on a domestic violence charge from 2010. Mayweather’s still holding out hope that Pacquiao will take him up on his offer to fight in Las Vegas on May 5, but even with time served, Mayweather won’t be getting out of the Clark County Detention Center until April 2. That would cut the normal ten week training time in half, which all but rules out any bout in March. If the two sides somehow do hammer out an agreement for a fight this year, Yahoo boxing blogger Kevin Iole believes September is the earliest possible date. Or it could just continue on as the greatest fight that never was. [Yahoo Sports]

Related: The Joe Paterno Era Is About to End at Penn State

The No. 6-ranked Baylor Bears beat Paul Quinn College, a Dallas-area school affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and enrollment of 200, by 41 points on Monday night. This was expected, considering that Paul Quinn plays in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and recently saw its football program cut, so the field could be used as a farm. They only got the game because coach Charles Keeley is friends with new Baylor assistant Grant McCasland. The school wants to use the exposure from the Baylor game and a loss earlier in the season against Sam Houston State, to pump up enrollment, possibly to 2,000 by 2020. Keeley, who also teaches math at the school, is optimistic that Paul Quinn “could move up from N.A.I.A. someday, perhaps as high as N.C.A.A. Division II.” Says Keeley: “We want to be relevant.” For people watching ESPN this past Monday, they were. [The New York Times] 

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– Seven states will share $ 200 million in grant money they can use to improve student achievement, the Department of Education announced on Friday.

Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will share the money they were awarded in the third round of the funding competition.

“These seven states are now among 22 Race to the Top winners spread out across the country that are investing in key education reforms to prepare more students for college and careers,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia were awarded grants in the first two rounds of the Race to the Top competition.

Previous winners included California, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington.

Congress has passed a fiscal 2012 spending bill that includes $ 550 million in Race to the Top funding. (Reporting by Chip Barnett; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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WASHINGTON – Seven states won a share of $ 200 million in federal “Race to the Top” money to improve K-12 education programs, the Education Department announced Thursday.

The winners are Arizona, $ 25.1 million; Colorado, $ 17.9 million; Illinois, $ 42.8 million; Kentucky, $ 17 million; Louisiana, $ 17.5 million; Pennsylvania, $ 41.3 million; and New Jersey, $ 37.9 million.

The Obama administration has awarded billions of dollars in such competitions to encourage changes in education that it favors. The seven states competing in this round were all runners-up last year, and the Education Department has said it wants to encourage them to finish and carry out many of the changes proposed in their earlier applications.

Competing states committed to make changes such as improving principal and teacher evaluation systems and turning around under-performing schools. They also were asked to show specifically how they would improve science, technology, engineering and math instruction.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the money was driving dramatic improvements.

“We’ve had broken teacher-evaluation systems in many places, unfortunately for five, or six or seven decades,” Duncan said. “You’ve seen more effort there and more movement in a short amount of time than in a long time prior to that, and many states are using Race to the Top resources to do that.”

Two other states, South Carolina and California, were also eligible. South Carolina opted not to compete, while California submitted an incomplete application, the Education Department said.

Last week, nine states were announced as winners of a share of $ 500 million in grants under a similar competition focused on improving early learning programs.

Duncan also said federal officials are monitoring states to ensure that they follow through on their plans to improve schools with Race to the Top money. For example, he said he has warned Hawaii that it’s in danger of losing funding.

“We’re going to look for some pretty significant improvements early in the new year,” Duncan said. “There’s not a hard-and-fast date. If we see things turning around, that would be fantastic. If we don’t see things turning around, then we’ve got some tough decisions to make.”

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Online: Education Department http://www.ed.gov/

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WASHINGTON – Seven states won a share of $ 200 million in federal “Race to the Top” money to improve K-12 education programs, the Education Department announced Thursday.

The winners are Arizona, $ 25.1 million; Colorado, $ 17.9 million; Illinois, $ 42.8 million; Kentucky, $ 17 million; Louisiana, $ 17.5 million; Pennsylvania, $ 41.3 million; and New Jersey, $ 37.9 million.

The Obama administration has awarded billions of dollars in such competitions to encourage changes in education that it favors. The seven states competing in this round were all runners-up last year, and the Education Department has said it wants to encourage them to finish and carry out many of the changes proposed in their earlier applications.

Competing states committed to make changes such as improving principal and teacher evaluation systems and turning around under-performing schools. They also were asked to show specifically how they would improve science, technology, engineering and math instruction.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the money was driving dramatic improvements.

“We’ve had broken teacher-evaluation systems in many places, unfortunately for five, or six or seven decades,” Duncan said. “You’ve seen more effort there and more movement in a short amount of time than in a long time prior to that, and many states are using Race to the Top resources to do that.”

Two other states, South Carolina and California, were also eligible. South Carolina opted not to compete, while California submitted an incomplete application, the Education Department said.

Last week, nine states were announced as winners of a share of $ 500 million in grants under a similar competition focused on improving early learning programs.

Duncan also said federal officials are monitoring states to ensure that they follow through on their plans to improve schools with Race to the Top money. For example, he said he has warned Hawaii that it’s in danger of losing funding.

“We’re going to look for some pretty significant improvements early in the new year,” Duncan said. “There’s not a hard-and-fast date. If we see things turning around, that would be fantastic. If we don’t see things turning around, then we’ve got some tough decisions to make.”

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Online: Education Department http://www.ed.gov/

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BOULDER, Colo. – The University of Colorado has snapped up 27 .xxx domain names in an effort to prevent pornographers from exploiting the school’s name and brands, but it failed in acquiring the Colorado.xxx name.

The Boulder Daily Camera reports Wednesday ( http://bit.ly/rW9CcP) the domain names the university purchased include UniversityofColorado.xxx, CU.xxx, Buffs.xxx, and GoldenBuffaloes.xxx.

The newly created .xxx suffix is the Internet’s adults-only variation on .com.

Colorado.xxx, which is a variation of the school’s Colorado.edu domain, was acquired by Las Vegas brothel owner Edward Yeager.

Yeager told the Camera that he would offer the name to the University of Colorado for $ 1,000.

University spokesman Ken McConnellogue says he’s unsure whether the school will buy the domain from Yeager.

The school spent about $ 200 on acquiring each domain. Other universities and schools across the country have done the same.

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