Report: Teachers rated ‘effective’ may lag in student growth standard
WASHINGTON - Thirty states claim to consider student growth a "significant" factor in teacher evaluations, but a new study finds that evaluations in 28 of those states, including Arizona, "fail to live up to promises."
Hundreds of volunteers help document homeless during annual street count
PHOENIX – Armed with clipboards, surveys and layers of clothing, hundreds of volunteers loaded into cars before 5 a.m. on Tuesday with a mission to connect with the homeless as part of the the Point-in-Time homeless count in Phoenix.
ASU study: Body cameras improve relationship between Tempe police officers and public
TEMPE – Police wearing body cameras can promote a good relationship between the community and police, including members of the public saying police officers treated them with respect, early results of an ongoing Arizona State University study show.
Teaching the teachers to stay in Arizona
PARADISE VALLEY – In a poorly-financed education system, Arizona teachers are battling low salaries, the pressures of mandatory testing and a lack of respect for their profession, making it harder for the state to entice and retain teachers, advocates say. One Paradise Valley mentoring program is trying to grow teachers at home and repair a broken pipeline.
Wading through the yuck, researchers study wastewater sludge for public health clues
TEMPE – Pristine white lab coats hang on a wheeled rack. Handwritten measurements and equations are crammed on whiteboards. And a long line of freezers are filled with containers of super-concentrated human waste.
Pharmaceuticals end up in water supply, AZ experts suggest better tracking
PHOENIX – The Arizona health community distributed 305 million pain reliever pills last year – enough to provide 24-hour medication for every adult in the state for two weeks straight, according to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.
Duties and dreams: Arizona Latina struggles to balance education, family
QUEEN CREEK - When she was 5, Berenice Zendejas scribbled down the answer to her kindergarten teacher’s question.
Three days in August: How a water outage in AZ exposed cracks in customer service
PARKER – The high was 96 degrees on the day the tap went dry at Terry Mestas’ house. Mestas was among several hundred residents who endured heat that climbed to 106 degrees over three days in August, when five water-line breaks and a weak pressure valve shut down the water.
Skateboard program boosts confidence, achievement in low-income schools
PHOENIX - Rhama Majid raced into the gym at David Crockett Elementary School and found her favorite set of gear: pads, a helmet and a skateboard. She strapped on her protective equipment, put down her skateboard and pushed away like she'd done it a thousand times before.
Sky Harbor had 24,247 noise complaints in 2015 after flight-path shift
WASHINGTON _ Neighbors of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport filed 24,247 complaints about noise at the facility in 2015, one of the highest rates among airports studied in a recent George Mason University report.
Millennial migration a boon for AZ cities, loss for rural areas
Taryn Martin, 21, grew up in Vail, a small town in Pima County with approximately 10,000 residents. Her family’s land stretched across the countryside. She rode horses during the day and enjoyed starry skies at night.
Waiting in line: Why legal immigration can take decades
PHOENIX -- As President-elect Donald Trump and the 115th Congress take control in January, immigration reform is expected to be a top priority, and Arizona is among the states with the most at stake.
