T.H.E. News Update :: April 23, 2008

News & Issues

Florida Bill Eliminates Zero Tolerance

A bill filed April 18 in the Florida House of Representatives aims to prevent further harm from zero tolerance policies that have caused children to be expelled and, in some cases, arrested for violating school rules. CS/HB 7087 revises state juvenile justice statutes and provisions and, among other things, strikes all references to zero tolerance in schools and specifies that students should be expelled and referred to law enforcement only for "serious criminal offenses."...

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Alternative High School Program Expands in Georgia

A technology-assisted program for helping student attain high school diplomas is expanding in Georgia. Educational Services of America said that nine new districts are signing up for its Ombudsman Educational Services, bringing the total in Georgia to 17 districts....

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SQL Server 2005 SP3 Expected in Summer '08

Microsoft last week announced through two blogs that it plans to release the next service pack to SQL Server 2005, Service Pack 3 (SP3). The release is timed for the third quarter of this year, or after Microsoft releases SQL Server 2008 to manufacturing....

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LeapFrog Intros Handheld Early Literacy Device

LeapFrog School this week introduced a handheld device aimed at developing preK-3 reading skills, the Tag School Reader, part of the newly launched Tag School Reading System. It's expected to ship in June, with a software upgrade slated for an early 2009 release that will add Web-based student progress tracking and reporting....

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Renaissance To Roll Out Laptops to Africa

Education technology developer Renaissance Learning and non-profit Generation for Change and Growth will deploy some 5,000 refurbished AlphaSmart laptop computers in Northern Kenya in an effort to reach students in areas with high rates of illiteracy....

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MN Schools Adopt WriteToLearn for State Assessments

Students at two Minnesota high schools are using Pearson's WriteToLearn to develop writing and reading comprehension skills....

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Virtual Security Gets a Boost

How secure is your virtual environment? Recent US-CERT Cyber Security Bulletins list several vulnerabilities for versions of software from VMware that allow attackers to cause denial of service attacks, generate buffer overflows, expose password logging, and gain unauthorized privileges that can be used to hijack processes. The exposures have been addressed in patches by the company, but concern has been growing that virtual machines may get less security-related attention from IT staff than physical boxes....

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Vista SP1 Expands Language Support but Hits USB Snag

As of last Tuesday, Vista Service Pack 1 is now generally available in all 36 supported languages. Microsoft had initially rolled out Vista SP1 in just five languages....

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If you have a potential article, or questions about the above topics, please e-mail [email protected]

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Featured

  • students using digital devices, surrounded by abstract AI motifs and soft geometric design

    Ed Tech Startup Kira Launches AI-Native Learning Platform

    A new K-12 learning platform aims to bring personalized education to every student. Kira, one of the latest ed tech ventures from Andrew Ng, former director of Stanford's AI Lab and co-founder of Coursera and DeepLearning.AI, "integrates artificial intelligence directly into every educational workflow — from lesson planning and instruction to grading, intervention, and reporting," according to a news announcement.

  • toolbox featuring a circuit-like AI symbol and containing a screwdriver, wrench, and hammer

    Microsoft Launches AI Tools for Educators

    Microsoft has introduced a variety of AI tools aimed at helping educators develop personalized learning experiences for their students, create content more efficiently, and increase student engagement.

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    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • Two hands shaking in the center with subtle technology icons, graphs, binary code, and a padlock in the dark blue background

    Two Areas for K-12 Schools to Assess for When to Work with a Managed Services Provider

    The complexity of today’s IT network infrastructure and increased cybersecurity risk are quickly moving beyond many school districts’ ability to manage on their own. But a new technology model, a partnership with a managed services provider, offers a way forward for schools to overcome these challenges.