A Push for Phys Ed - A new study makes a strong case that physical education may be the single best strategy for curbing the nation's growing child obesity problem--at least among girls. In the first study to evaluate the effect of P.E. programs on kindergartners and first-graders, researchers found that increasing P.E. time by one hour per week could lead to a significant decline in body mass index, a measure of body fat, among girls.

VA Virginia's Governor Plans Drive to Reform U.S. High Schools - Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner said yesterday that his major initiative as chairman of the National Governors Association will be a campaign to reform American high schools and make the senior year more meaningful. Warner called 12th grade "one of the most important transition years in education" but said too many seniors slack off and waste the time. As one cure for "senior slump," Warner said, seniors should be allowed to receive college credit, thus saving some of their college tuition and trimming states' higher education budgets.

PA Chief of School Panel Wants Historic Shift - James Nevels says his drive to change the way Philadelphia teachers are assigned is aimed at equity of opportunity for students. [Free login/registration required.]

More States Offer Single-sex Schools - For an increasing number of public schools, the formula for a better education requires a little arithmetic: divide the girls from the boys. That's just fine with Kristielle Pedraza, a 13-year-old who says she will not miss the boys while she attends the Irma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, Dallas' first all-girls public school and one of a growing number of such schools nationally.

School-based Coaching: Revolution or Fad? - After years of disappointing results from conventional professional development efforts many districts are now hiring coaches to improve their schools. The professional development strategy known as school-based coaching generally involves experts in a particular subject area or set of teaching strategies working closely with small groups of teachers to improve classroom practice and, ultimately, student achievement.

A Principal's Experience with the Raise Responsibility System - Last April (2003), I started a new life journey that has dramatically changed who I am as a principal as well as who I am as a person. I was completing my fifth year as an elementary public school principal.