STORY IDEAS
Ball State University experts are available to provide information and background on a variety of issues. Story ideas include:
TYING RAISES TO TEST SCORES IS A BAD IDEA: Proposals to base merit pay raises for teachers on students' standardized test scores is not a fair measurement of performance. Such tests rarely give a complete look at a student's education, said Tom Schroeder, associate dean of the Teachers College. Contact him at [email protected] or (765) 285-5251.
SCHOOLS OFTEN MISUSE TEACHER AIDES: Placing a teaching assistant or aide in the K-12 classroom is meant to lower student-teacher ratios and improve learning conditions. But, too many schools are using teacher aides to only take attendance or handle non-teaching tasks, says Dan Lapsley, an educational psychology professor studying the issue in Indiana. Contact him at [email protected] or by phone at (765) 285-8500.
CBO DOING A POOR JOB IN FORECASTING THE ECONOMY: The Congressional Budget Office's forecasts of surpluses for the federal government in the coming years have made politicians in Washington practically squeal in delight, but the record of getting it right has been so bad lately that it would be wise to hold off before spending any money, said Patrick Barkey, director of the Bureau of Business Research. Contact him at [email protected] or (765) 285-5926.
FEAR SPREADING FASTER THAN LYME DISEASE: Fear of Lyme disease continues to spread in the U.S. because Americans know little about it. Fear of Lyme disease is spreading nationally even though about 90 percent of cases are confined to 10 states, said Robert Pinger, director of Ball State's Public Health Entomology Lab. Contact him at [email protected] or (765) 285-1504.
NATIONAL HUD AWARD GOES TO STUDENT STUDIES: Student research on eight low-income neighborhoods has won a national award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Muncie Neighborhood Studies project, completed in May by Ball State's third-year neighborhood planning studio, is among the nationwide recipients of HUD's Best Practices Awards for 1999. For more information, contact Linda Keys at [email protected] or (765) 285-5054.
(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more stories and information, visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news on the World Wide Web.)
Marc Ransford
10/14/99
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