Department Of Education

Nearly all the students raised their hands when Monsignor Richard Woy asked if they had watched the Olympics in Beijing this past summer. The students, teachers and parents had gathered inside the chapel at St. John the Evangelist School for a celebration. Woy quizzed the boys and girls, "Who won all the gold?" The children knew: Maryland native Michael Phelps, who garnered eight gold medals for swimming. "And what does that mean?" he asked the students. "You're the best," said Moy, repeating a student's answer.

Library stays on top The Howard County Library is continuing to rank first in the country for its educational program, according to Hennen's 2008 American Public Library Ratings. The survey rates public libraries across the country using 15 measures, including visits, borrowing, staffing, instruction and funding levels. Customers visited the Howard County Library 2.6 million times last year, a 26 percent increase from the previous year, and borrowed more than 5.6 million items last year, a 15 percent increase over 2007.

The federally supported Reading First program received another bad report card last week - an unsatisfactory grade in effectiveness from its principal supporter, the Department of Education. At least two other studies have found the program awash in cronyism. Even though it is hardly a universal failure - the program has enjoyed some success in Maryland and other places - Reading First needs to be overhauled or scrapped. Created in 2002 as part of the No Child Left Behind law, Reading First is supposed to use instruction methods that are scientifically based with a record of effectiveness to improve reading skills among low-income students in the earliest grades.

Howard County School Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin will present his proposed fiscal 2009 operating budget at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 in the boardroom at the Department of Education, 10910 Route 108, Ellicott City. Information: 410-313-6682. School board to meet Jan. 10 The Howard County Board of Education will hold a regularly scheduled meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 10 in the boardroom at the Department of Education, 10910 Route 108, Ellicott City. The afternoon session and an evening session, which begins at 7:30, will start with a forum during which members of the public can address the board on topics that have no formal hearing process.

Assessment test plan changes Students who haven't been able to pass the four high school assessment tests can substitute a project called the "bridge plan." To be eligible to do so, a student must: Have failed one or more of the tests twice and have already received some extra help. Have passed the course in the subject of the test. Have satisfactory attendance. Be on track to receive enough credits to graduate. For more information on the bridge plan, go to www.hsaexam.org Source: Maryland State Department of Education

WASHINGTON -- One lesson Rep. John Sarbanes learned in his seven years working with the Maryland State Department of Education, he says, is the value of a good principal. Now he wants to write that lesson into federal law. With Congress poised to debate the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, Sarbanes is trying to use the education law to provoke a national discussion about the role an experienced administrator can play in turning around a troubled school. The freshman Democrat from Baltimore County has succeeded in inserting language into the draft legislation now circulating that would make funds available for research into what makes a "highly qualified principal," and how such administrators can be used to best advantage - issues that were "very invisible" in the 2001 version of No Child Left Behind, in the words of state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.

The Department of Education, after months of criticism for its lax oversight of the federal student loan program, still has no system to detect and uncover misconduct by lenders and protect student borrowers, a government report said yesterday. The report, prepared by the General Accountability Office and released by congressional Democrats, found that the department "has no oversight tools" to see whether lenders are giving improper incentives to colleges to steer student borrowers their way and since 1989, the department has offered lenders no "comprehensive guidance" on what incentives might be forbidden.

School calendars State law requires that schools be closed for these days: Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas Eve through Jan. 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Presidents Day The Friday before Easter through the Monday after Easter Memorial Day Primary and general election days [Source: Maryland State Department of Education]

Although women have made significant gains in education and income during the past three decades, the pay gap between college-educated men and women continues to widen in the years after graduation, experts say. A new report to be released today by the American Association of University Women sheds light on what is holding back many female graduates and what they can do to catch up. The gender gap will remain until more women pursue careers in science...

Educational software - which is used in most school districts across Maryland - appears to have no effect in improving student achievement although it can cost as much as $100 per child, a federally funded study has concluded. The results of the study, which was released this week by the U.S. Department of Education, is likely to prompt school districts, including Baltimore's, to look more closely at whether to purchase the software or invest in other strategies. The educational software industry is disputing the study's findings, saying they could have been skewed by poor training of teachers and other factors.