Policy Issues


Ed Sec'y Wants Increased Rigor in School Reform Reporting

At a conference of the Institute of Education Sciences Monday, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan implored researchers and state agency workers to apply increased rigor when analyzing and reporting on school reforms.

Designing Learning Spaces for Instruction, not Control

Never before has it been more viable for educators to put instruction front and center of learning space design than now. Never before has collaboration with students and peers and with the world been more possible than now. So why are our learning spaces still so reminiscent of the past? Why are these spaces still so constrained?

Lenovo To Delve into the Effectiveness of Technology in Education

Lenovo this week reported that it's launching a new Global Education Research program, which will aim to "analyze and measure the impact of technology on students' educational experiences."

Research Reveals Another STEM Gender Gap: Computer Science

If the attitudes of high school students are a good predictor of eventual career choices, the future will continue to see computer science fields dominated by males. According to new research released by ACM and the WGBH Educational Foundation, compared with girls, more than twice as many boys see computer science as a "good" or "very good" choice as a college major. What's more, four times as many boys cited computer science as a "very good" career choice.

IT Dogged by Security Issues, Studies Find

Software security continues to trouble IT pros, who often have to do more with less in the current recession, according to two industry-sponsored studies.

Summit on 21st Century Skills To Tackle Education Reform

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills will host a summit on 21st century learning beginning June 1.

Cybercriminals Imitating Social Networks To Spread Malware

Research by a security product vendor shows that cybercriminals are using domain names that reference popular social networking sites to lure users to fake Web sites. The results of research conducted by Websense, which makes security software, reveals a growing domain-name cloning trend that includes brands like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Weiss To Lead 'Race to the Top' Initiative at ED

The United States Department of Education this week named Joanne Weiss to head up the "Race to the Top Fund," an ED initiative funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that's aimed at making long-lasting changes at underperforming schools.

Duncan Warns States Against Misuse of ARRA Funds

While addressing the House Committee on Education and Labor in Washington, DC Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan reemphasized that the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund--part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--is primarily to be used for education and warned states that the federal government will be keeping an eye on how the funds are used.

School Districts Increase Emergency Alerts, Surveillance on Students

School districts are saturating their campuses with surveillance cameras, with nearly four in five (79 percent) reporting that they use cameras at their schools--an increase of nine points over the last 12 months, according to a new report. But overall, according to CDW-G, which conducted the survey, schools are not keeping pace with "increasing threats."

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