Federal

Roundup: High Court Action, ESEA Renewal, Teaching Cursive in Jeopardy

By Erik W. Robelen — January 19, 2011 1 min read
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I’ve come across some recent developments that I’m going to wrap into a quick roundup for readers this morning. So grab your coffee and take a look!

• The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday declined to take up a legal challenge to how Massachusetts handled a curriculum guide on genocide and human rights. For a detailed analysis, check out Mark Walsh’s post at The School Law Blog.

• Educators in Georgia say that teaching students to write in cursive may soon disappear from most school lesson plans, according to an Associated Press story.

• This month, the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services is highlighting a project in a tribal community that’s using a local library to help young people develop their literacy skills. The Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library in New Mexico has received two grants under the institute’s Native American Library Services program totaling some $250,000 for the effort.

• The White House is apparently gearing up to make a big push for the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, my colleague Alyson Klein reports in a new EdWeek story. This could have plenty of implications for those who care about the curriculum, from potential changes to the law’s accountability and testing demands to the fate of specific programs targeting a range of subjects, including reading, STEM education, U.S. history, arts education, and on and on. Also, here’s a fresh blog post from Politics K-12 on a U.S. senator who will play a key role in the reauthorization effort (and apparently is keen on promoting math and science education).

• And finally, my colleague Stephen Sawchuk reports on a school that’s moving toward a teacher-led approach. It’s embracing a variety of other changes as part of the effort, including a pilot schedule for 7th and 8th graders that lets teachers regroup students in different English/language arts and math classes frequently, based on the students’ performance and how quickly they are learning new material.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.