News Items For The Week

MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS

A new Massachusetts law focuses on early screening of children with mental illnesses. It includes a section designed to train teachers, guidance counselors and nurses and create special teams for children needing services from multiple state agencies. http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw08/sl080321.htm

From the Education Commission of the States e-clips
(http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/newsMedia/e-Clips.asp)

MICHIGAN SAYS 25% DON'T GRADUATE

A fourth of Michigan's high school students are not graduating on time, according to data based on a new formula that provides the most accurate picture of how many students earn a diploma in four years. The 75% completion rate for the class of 2007 was about 10 percentage points lower than it was for 2006, which was calculated using the old method. As a result of the new formula, fewer Michigan schools met the academic targets required under No Child Left Behind. DETROIT NEWS

A PLAN TO TEST THE CITY'S YOUNGEST PUPILS

The Bloomberg administration is asking elementary school principals across New York City to give standardized tests in English and math to children as young as kindergartners. The pilot program, which will cost $400,000, is already inciting outrage among some educators and advocates who worry that the mayor's efforts to overhaul the school system have been overly focused on standardized testing. NEW YORK TIMES

NEWARK PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO GET UNIFORMS

Uniforms will be required for Newark, New Jersey's elementary school students as part of the district's dress code policy. There are fewer distractions in classes when students don't have to worry about who's wearing what, said Superintendent Clifford Janey. Schools with uniform policies see improvements in behavior, but not necessarily large jumps in academic achievement. Twenty-three states allow districts to institute dress code and uniform policies, according to an ECS policy summary. NEWARK STAR LEDGER

PHILA. SEES SURGE IN 'PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS' SCHOOLS

A surging number of Philadelphia schools have been labeled "persistently dangerous," so unsafe that parents have a right to send their children elsewhere. The new list shows a 67% increase in schools deemed persistently dangerous, a designation under No Child Left Behind. The 20 schools on the 2008-09 list is up from 12 the previous year. For the last several years, only Philadelphia schools have made the state's list. PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER