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For Administrators and
Future Administrators

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ONLINE RECRUITERS

STANDARDS AND CURRICULUM

STATE AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

LEGAL

Be Ready, You Need to Know . . . Does you District Internet Use Policy have provisions addressing disclosure of student personal information on sites like Think.com? It should. Do you know the difference between free speech rights (including expressing viewpoints that administrators and teachers may not like) and free speech wrongs (ex: defamation, harassment) and are able to teach your student? You should.

Schools Spy On Children

Webcam Spy Federal Investigation Yes the school district got sued and lost!

2009 Do we want the next generation to grow up comfortable with being tracked? There has been an expedited push to force many people to accept biometrics as normal tracking tools for everyday life. Online, we often read of new tools capable of tracking our every move so that our behavior can be tracked, targeted, and sold to advertisers. Several groups and individuals, however, have been pushing back and demanding privacy, so companies have begun to shift their focus towards children. The question of tracking children keeps coming up in newspapers, editorials, blogs, and magazines and we must face it realistically instead of ignoring it. We cannot always rely on organizations, such as the ACLU and EFF, to do the investigations for us.

In an open letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department, ACLU-NC and EFF are asking officials to disclose what technical and security measures are used by the system to safeguard the privacy and safety of preschoolers, as well as what data is collected, how long it is retained, and who has access to the information.  The letter also calls on officials to publicly address why and how the government decided to track Head Start students, and if the government plans to expand such tracking.

Screening Volunteers and Background Checks

 

 

Here are some citations or links to resources that may be useful in providing input towards determining the shape and nature of a policy that meets the security and ethical considerations of providing quality volunteers for educational programs and that meets the political considerations of the school boards or other policy making or implementing groups making decisions on volunteer standards and screening policies.

SAFE SCHOOLS - CRIME /  BULLYING

 

ISSUES

K12 School District Technology Grants, Sponsors and Funding

WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A TEACHER TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT

Develop The Technology Plan

Single Sex Classrooms / Schools - Gender Grouping

Single-sex education advocates say research abroad and in private schools supports their contention that boys and girls learn better in classrooms tailored to their learning styles -- more competitive for the boys, more collaborative for the girls. However, David Sadker, a co-author of "Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls" (Touchstone Books, $14), said studies on the benefits of same-sex education for girls vary, but some suggest that students at all-girl schools are not only more confident, but also more likely to go to graduate school and venture into math and science. Reliable studies on the benefits of same-sex education for boys are scant. Source

AS COMPUTERS IDLE IN CLASSROOMS, TRAINING FOR TEACHERS IS THE NEXT CHALLENGE

Wed, 5 Jul 2000 from Edupage (New York Times July 3 2000)
Although 95 percent of American schools now have Internet access, many teachers still do not know how to use the tools or do not feel comfortable using the technology in their classrooms. According to a survey by Market Data Retrieval, 61 percent of teachers in elementary or secondary schools consider themselves "somewhat prepared" or "not at all prepared" to incorporate technology into their lessons. Many of these teachers feel intimidated by having computers in their classrooms, especially when their students may have more computer experience than they do, while other teachers simply do not think computers add anything to the educational process. The White House has already given $75 million worth of grants for teachers' technology instruction, and Intel is creating a group of "master teachers" from across the country who will then be able to train other teachers.

GROUP RELEASES STANDARDS FOR PREPARING TEACHERS TO USE TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, June 30 2000) http://www.iste.orgThe International Society for Technology in Education has released national standards and recommendations for colleges that will be used in preparing teachers to use technology effectively in the classroom. The U.S. Department of Education awarded the nonprofit group a three-year, $2.2 million grant last year to develop the standards, which describe what beginning teachers should know and be able to do with technology. Teachers should be able to use technology in developing curricula, increasing professional knowledge, and assessing students.

 

MISC.

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