Quick Hits

How effective teachers are helping improve struggling schools: At one struggling middle school in Los Angeles, effective teachers were the key to making improvements, an analysis by the Los Angeles Times found. Efforts to place top teachers at the neediest schools are part of the Obama administration's agenda for improving schools. "Great teachers and great principals are at the heart of this work," education chief Arne Duncan said. "You need to ID those folks and bring them in." (Los Angeles Times)

Study links seniority-based teacher layoffs, poorer student outcomes: A study by the Center for Education Data and Research at the University of Washington predicted that seniority-based teacher layoffs would result in a student-achievement dip equal to 2.5 to 3.5 months of learning, compared with layoffs that were based on value-added data. "If your bottom line is student achievement, then this is not the best system," the study's lead author said. (The Associated Press)

'Suspicious' letter raises free speech issues for ACLU: An ACLU letter on holiday inclusiveness in schools was mistakenly flagged as "suspicious" by a Tennessee intelligence agency, raising concerns about the monitoring of citizens' speech. The Dec. 7 letter from Hedy Weinberg, ACLU Tennessee's executive director, cautioned public schools superintendents not to promote certain religious celebrations over others. But it was picked up and disseminated by the Tennessee Fusion Center, a government task force that helps share homeland security and criminal intelligence among law enforcement agencies, under the heading "suspicious activity." (Tennesseean)

Panama City shooter: Gunman who fired point-blank at Panama City school board members before fatally shooting himself Tuesday lived in Tampa in the 1970s while attending high school, according to the Hillsborough County School District. Raw video footage at (Tampa Bay.com)

Rollout of electronic GED tests begins: Beginning next year, students in California, Florida, Georgia and Texas will begin taking the General Educational Development exam, or GED, electronically. The exams will become available electronically in other states over the next three years. Officials say they can encourage more people to earn their GED by offering it in a more efficient manner. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

More testing is expected in high schools, study finds: A study by the Center on Education Policy suggests a continuing increase in assessments for the country's high-school students. More states now mandate an exit exam for graduation -- affecting 75% of the nation's students --- and are requiring students to take college-entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT, the study found. The findings warrant both optimism and caution, the group's president said. "It could improve things in high school, but only if it's done right," Jack Jennings said. (Education Week)

Massachusetts union proposes revamp of teacher evaluations: Massachusetts' largest teachers union unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would tie teachers' evaluations to student test scores. Similar systems have been resisted nationwide by those who say they do not accurately reflect teachers' work and unfairly penalize teachers for outside factors. The union proposes rating teachers based on several years of test scores. Other considerations, such as classroom observations and students' background, would also be included. "We have to be the architects of reform, rather than the subject of it," the union's president said. (The Boston Globe) and (here)

Civil rights advocates seek review of Texas education: Two civil rights groups are requesting a federal review of curriculum changes made this year in Texas, claiming the changes discriminate against black and Latino students. In May, the Texas school board adopted a social studies and history curriculum that some say was revised based on ideological views. The groups also claim the state schools are failing to provide an equal education for minority students, disparately disciplining minority students and not enrolling enough minorities in gifted and talented programs. (Houston Chronicle)

NYC enacts new reporting system for school arrests, suspensions: New York City officials will require police and schools to provide regular reports of arrests, suspensions and other incidents involving students in public schools. The reports will include information on suspensions and discipline by school that is broken down by students' age, grade, race, gender, ethnicity, language and whether they are enrolled in special education. The data will be made available online. Information on arrests and summonses will be available on a boroughwide basis. (The New York Times)

U.S. population continues shift to South and West: Data from the 2010 U.S. census was released Tuesday, revealing a picture of a country that is growing more slowly than in any period since the Great Depression, and is migrating toward warmer climes in the South and West. There are 308,745,538 Americans, up 9.7% from the 2000 census. States in the Northeast and Midwest are seeing declines. The tilt will play out in congressional redistricting, where Republican-leaning states stand to gain seats in the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes. (The Wall Street Journal) (The New York Times)

Some struggling Boston schools turn to data-driven instruction: Ambitious turnaround efforts are under way at 12 struggling Boston schools. At Blackstone Elementary School in the city's South End, regular learning assessments are being done and there is an increased emphasis on data-tracking that involves students in the process. "They all know where they are and where we want them to get to," one teacher said. (Boston Herald)

Who should be considered a "highly qualified" teacher?: Teach for America educators and others still in training could be considered "highly qualified" teachers under legislation being considered by Congress. No Child Left Behind requires that every student be taught by a "highly qualified" teacher, but a recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling determined that teachers still enrolled in teacher-preparation programs should not be considered "highly qualified." Education blogger Valerie Strauss writes that the issue affects some of the country's neediest children and should be fully debated. (The Answer Sheet blog)

Little collaboration with charters is seen in Columbus, Ohio: Although districts nationwide have taken steps to collaborate with local charter schools, school officials in Columbus, Ohio, appear to be keeping such schools at arm's length. Charter-school supporters say that public schools and charters can work together to improve education. Charter-school enrollment has grown from 5,000 in 2005 to 12,700, but a charter-school office promised in 2005 has yet to open. Some say that ignoring charters is not the answer because more charters are expected to open in Columbus. (The Columbus Dispatch)

Some early-college programs are in jeopardy over funding loss: Some early-college programs -- where students earn college credits while still in high school -- are in jeopardy as one-time grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are running out and other subsidies are being cut. Two ongoing studies are showing promise for early-college schools, many of which target students who are underrepresented on college campuses. (Education Week)

How can districts develop better principals?: Teacher quality is a hotly debated subject nationwide, but some say the way principals are trained, hired and developed should be getting more attention. Some school districts in Wisconsin and elsewhere are focusing more on training principals in instructional leadership and how to evaluate teachers, while some are working to improve the avenues to becoming a principal. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Race is on to find new schools for next fall after Boston shutters 18: The decision to close or merge 18 Boston schools has prompted hundreds of parents to hunt for new schools for their children to attend next fall. Many parents said they're taking their search beyond city limits because of the long waiting lists to get into the city's top schools. City school officials say students at schools being closed will get preferred treatment in choosing a new one. (The Boston Globe)

School Boards Group Questions U.S. Guidance on Bullying: The general counsel of the National School Boards Association is warning the U.S. Department of Education that recent federal guidance to schools on bullying and harassment expands the standard of liability for school officials and "will invite misguided litigation." "The expansive position on what conduct constitutes 'harassment' protected by federal civil rights laws and what remedial measures are legally required will unnecessarily complicate investigations and possibly expose school districts to liability beyond that envisioned by the Supreme Court," says the Dec. 7 letter from Francisco M. Negron Jr., NSBA's top lawyer, to Charles P. Rose, the Education Department's general counsel. Negron stresses in the letter that the NSBA shares the Education Department's interest in reducing bullying and harassment in schools. But he cites several concerns about the Oct. 27 "Dear Colleague" letter that went out from Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali. (School Law blog)

Schools need to pick up pace to close achievement gaps, study finds: It could take decades for some minority groups to catch up with their white peers if progress continues at its current pace, according to a study released by the Center on Education Policy. The study measured the pace at which 40 states are narrowing the achievement gap and found that progress varies greatly by state. For example, researchers found it could take 105 years to close the achievement gap between white and black fourth-grade students in Washington state, but 12.5 years to close the gap in Louisiana. (Education Week)

Thanks Martha