Wednesday, October 2
Assessments/Common Core
State Chiefs Set Criteria for 'High-Quality' Assessment
State superintendents are demanding that testmakers, including the two consortia building tests for the common standards, adhere to four principles to create "high-quality assessment." A Council of Chief State School Officers report describes how assessment practice should ensure test accessibility and security, and create user-friendly reports that chart students' progress and provide data that can help guide instruction. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 10/01/13)
College Access/Completion
Colorado Colleges Work with Partners to Boost Access, Graduation Rates
The Colorado Department of Higher Education unveiled a program that hopes to address the challenges of attracting and retaining traditionally underrepresented students, as well as keeping them on the path to earning college degrees. The Colorado Challenge is a partnership of three programs and four schools with a vested interest in increasing their success in awarding degrees. (Denver Post, 09/30/13)
College Applications
$6 Can Make a Difference
A new study suggests that an amount as little as $6.00 could make a difference in students’ decisions about the institutions to which they apply. The study adds yet more evidence to the theory of “undermatching” – namely that significant numbers of low-income, high talent students are not applying to as many colleges, or colleges that are as competitive, as would benefit them. (Inside Higher Ed, 10/01/13)
Common Core
Common-Core Tests in Kentucky, Year Two: What's the Trend?
Kentucky was the first state to release test score results that were supposed to be aligned to the Common Core standards, and as expected, there were significant drops in proficiency in both reading and math. Second-year results for 2012-13 show some modest improvement in some grades and subjects, stability in others, and continued achievement gaps among student groups. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/30/13)
School Vouchers
Court Backs Arizona on Use of Taxpayer-funded 'Scholarships' to Send Kids to Private schools
State lawmakers are free to give parents what amounts to a voucher to educate their children at private or parochial schools, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled. The judges rejected arguments by the plaintiffs that providing funds that wind up in the hands of religious schools violates a state constitutional provision barring public funds from being used for religious worship or instruction. See ECS’ summary of voucher policies. (Arizona Daily Star, 10/01/13)
Student Data
New Data Demands in Calif. Seen as Onerous by Districts
To satisfy demands of California’s K-12 database and a new system for education finance, the state has asked many schools for data on each individual student, including a count of those who qualify as low-income. But this fundamental shift in how California handles student information has caused consternation and confusion among many districts serving large populations of needy students. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 10/01/13)
Tuesday, October 1
Common Core
A Core Dilemma: Will the Littlest Learners Be Able to Type?
In the spring of 2015, Louisiana students will start taking the online tests aligned to the Common Core standards. The tests place technology demands on schools and districts, as well as on students. Elementary students likely will be required to type one or two-page responses on the writing components. In response, school leaders are considering keyboarding classes and introducing online exams in kindergarten. (Hechinger Report, 09/29/13)
Online Degrees/Institutions
How to Build a University in 7 Months
When Florida Governor Rick Scott signed S.B. 1076, he tasked a “preeminent state research university to establish an institute for online learning” that would “offer high-quality, fully online baccalaureate degree programs.” Soon after, the Florida Board of Governors granted the University of Florida that designation. Florida now faces a looming challenge to create a degree-granting online institution in seven months. (Inside Higher Ed, 10/01/13)
Principal Evaluations
More than Half of D.C. Public School Principals Rated Below ‘Effective’ on Revised Evaluations
Half the principals in the District of Columbia’s schools were deemed “developing” — one rung above “ineffective” — on newly revised evaluations that sorted administrators by their performance. Fourteen of the city’s 120 principals were rated “highly effective” and were eligible for bonuses of up to $30,000. The ratings are based on a combination of supervisor observation, test scores, and other student progress measures. (Washington Post, 09/29/13)
School Districts
Communities Cling to Local Schools Despite State Incentives
The number of independent school districts shrank nearly 90% between 1942 and 2012—from 108,579 districts to 12,880. There were 383 fewer total districts in 2012 than in 2007. For states, consolidating districts can mean fewer buildings to maintain and lower administrative costs. For communities, consolidation can mean long bus rides for students, losing budgetary control, and a loss of community history. See an interactive map of district. (Stateline.org, 10/01/13)
School Vouchers
Ind. Students Applying for Vouchers Doubles Again
The number of Indiana students applying to receive private school vouchers has more than doubled for a second consecutive year. The education department reports it received 20,047 applications for vouchers for the 2013-14 school year. The program has grown from 3,919 when it started in 2011-12 months after the legislature approved the nation’s broadest voucher plan, to 9,324 last year. (Evansville Courier & Press, 09/30/13)
Monday, September 30
Common Core/Teacher Prep
Teacher-training Schools Under Pressure to Prepare for Common Core
A National Council on Teacher Quality report found that only 11% of elementary teacher preparation programs and about one-third of high school programs appear to prepare candidates who can successfully teach the Common Core standards. In Louisiana, leaders of both traditional teacher-preparation and alternative programs say they are making changes to align with the Common Core. (Hechinger Report, 09/29/13)
Community College Degrees
California's Evolving Master Plan
Community colleges in more than 20 states are offering bachelor’s degrees. Now a California community college system committee is examining whether its 112 campuses should be granted the authority to offer four-year degrees. In other states, public universities often bristle at competition for students and dwindling state dollars. And some two-year college leaders worry about “mission creep.” (Inside Higher Ed, 09/27/13)
District Accreditation
Missouri Education Commissioner to Recommend KC District Remain Unaccredited
Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro will recommend that Kansas City Public Schools remain unaccredited this year, despite efforts to improve student achievement. Neighboring districts are closely watching the state board’s decision regarding Kansas City because, under a state law, students in unaccredited districts can transfer to surrounding accredited districts. (Kansas City Star, 09/26/13)
Student Truancy
California Truancy Is at 'Crisis' Level, Says Attorney General
One out of every four California elementary school students — nearly 1 million total — are truant each year, an "attendance crisis" that is jeopardizing their academic futures and depriving schools of needed dollars, the state attorney general said in a report. Districts lost $1.4 billion in 2010-11 in state education dollars, which are distributed based on student attendance. (Los Angeles Times, 09/30/13)
Students with Disabilities
R.I. Redoubles Efforts for Intellectually Disabled
For the first time in years, students with intellectual disabilities in the 23,000-student Providence, Rhode Island school district started school in August attending some classes alongside their typically developing peers. The move is the result of an agreement between the district and the federal government that the U.S. Department of Justice calls a "landmark." (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/24/13)
Friday, September 27
Accountability
Michigan School Accountability System Under Review as Legislators Discuss Letter Grades
Lawmakers in the Michigan House are starting to take a look at the state's color-coded accountability system for assessing how schools and districts are performing, and changes could be coming to the way performance is reported. One legislator says the current plan is ambiguous and confusing and has called for Michigan to adopt a letter-grade system, which 14 states have implemented. (Mlive.com, 09/25/13)
AP Courses
Public-private Partnership Helps Push Alabama Students to More Success in AP Courses
A public-private partnership to help more Alabama students take advantage of Advanced Placement courses is growing and is paying off, officials say. State Superintendent Tommy Bice announced that Alabama high school students led the nation in the percentage increase in the number of qualifying exams passed in AP math, science, and English courses over the last five years. (AL.com, 09/25/13)
College Admissions
Administration: Colleges Should Seek Diversity
The Obama administration is telling colleges and universities they can continue to use admissions to increase diversity among their students, even in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that could potentially open the door to more challenges. The administration's guidance said race can be considered as long as the admission programs can show that it is narrowly tailored. (Boston Globe, 09/26/13)
College Outreach
For Low-Income Students Considering College, a Nudge to Aim High
The College Board has begun a nationwide outreach program to try to persuade more low-income high school seniors who scored high on the SAT to apply to select colleges. The outreach is the largest response so far to research showing that these students do not even apply to, yet alone attend, select colleges. Many students may instead enroll in nearby colleges with low graduation rates. (New York Times, 09/25/13)
Credit for Service
Military Service Translates into Academic Credit in Many States
At least 26 states have passed legislation directing their boards of education to develop statewide policies to provide academic credit to the largest influx of veterans since the end of World War II, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And 19 states have enacted related legislation in the last two years alone, according to ECS. (Stateline.org, 09/26/13)
Thursday, September 26
College Entrance Exams
New SAT Results Show No Change in Average Scores
SAT scores remained flat for students in the class of 2013, with just 43% performing well enough to be considered college-ready—the same proportion as last year, according to new results from the College Board. While African-American and Latino students saw slight gains, they still trail their white peers. The College Board has announced that it will more closely align its exam to the Common Core standards. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/26/13)
Educational Research
New Research Consortium Targets D.C. Schools
District of Columbia schools will get a stronger say in research to figure out which reform experiments really work. The Education Consortium for Research and Evaluation, or EdCORE, is bringing together a set of research organizations to partner with district and charter schools, policymakers, and community groups. Similar research enterprises have emerged in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, and New York City. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/24/13)
State Superintendents
Mississippi Names First Permanent Female Superintendent of Education
The Mississippi state board announced that Carey Wright, founder and CEO of Wright Approach Consulting in Maryland and a 36-year veteran administrator and teacher, will become the state's first permanent female state superintendent. Wright, who recently was chief academic officer for the District of Columbia schools, will lead the department of education effective November 1. (Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 09/25/13)
Teacher Prep/Higher Ed Act
Group Urges Feds to Yank Aid from Poor-Performing Teacher-Prep Programs
A new Education Trust report offers recommendations that focus on the Higher Education Act's (HEA) teacher-preparation-accountability provisions. The report notes that preparation programs with low ratings can lose federal financial aid if the state subsequently withdraws its approval from those programs. The problem, it says, is that the federal law doesn't require states to act in this way. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/24/13)
Teacher Preparation
Enrollment in Teacher Preparation Programs Plummets
Enrollments in California's teacher preparation programs are continuing to decline at a precipitous rate, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. A report indicates that there was a 24% reduction in students who enrolled in teacher preparation programs in 2011-12 from the previous year. The declining enrollments are echoed by the plummeting numbers of teaching credentials being issued. (Hechinger Report, 09/24/13)
Wednesday, September 25
College Credentials
Have Credential, Will Travel
Many Texas community college students are getting jobs in the state's turbo-charged oil and gas industry. But the energy job market can change quickly, so several community colleges have partnered with the industry to create "stackable credentials" that allow students to re-enter college seamlessly when they need more training. Efficiency is the goal of the statewide effort, which began three years ago. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/25/13)
Common Core
House Panel OKs Moving Ahead with Controversial Education Standards—with Conditions
Michigan should move forward with the implementation of the controversial Common Core standards, says the chair of a House subcommittee that studied the issue. But the recommendation comes with conditions, including that the state be able to add or remove standards that "are in the best interest of the students of Michigan, with no ramifications from the federal government." (Detroit Free Press, 09/24/13)
English-language Learners
States Backslide in Achievement for English-Learners, Report Finds
Just nine states met all of their federal goals for English-language learners in making progress in learning the language and reaching academic targets in math and reading in the school years spanning 2008-10, according to a new report. That's a drop from 17 states in 2006-07. The goals include progress in learning English, attainment of fluency, and demonstration of proficiency on state reading and math tests. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/24/13)
Online Learning
Employers and Students Still Prefer Brick-and-Mortar—Not Online—Education
The enthusiasm for online learning, including MOOCs, has led some to question the future brick-and-mortar postsecondary institutions. But a new survey shows that 56% of employers prefer a job applicant with a degree from an average school where they attended physical classrooms, while only 17% prefer an applicant from a more elite university where they took only online coursework. (Hechinger Report, 09/24/13)
Student Data/College Enrollment
New Data Tracks Idaho Graduates after High School
New state data that tracks Idaho students after graduation show that fewer than half of the graduates went on to postsecondary schools in the months after getting their diplomas. The new information is expected to help the state board and other groups figure out why more graduates don't go on to postsecondary education. Idaho, where 48% of students go on to college, has one of the lowest college-going rates. (Idaho State Journal, 09/24/13)
Tuesday, September 24
Affirmative Action
Black Enrollment Falls as Michigan Rejects Affirmative Action
A decade ago, the University of Michigan waged a successful U.S. Supreme Court fight to save affirmative action. Three years after the court allowed race-based admissions, Michigan voters blocked them at state schools through a ballot initiative. As a result, black enrollment is down about 30% at the undergraduate and law schools. (Bloomberg News, 09/23/13)
College Remediation
Florida Colleges Make Plans for Students to Opt Out of Remedial Work
Under a new law, recent high school graduates and active-duty military members in Florida will have the choice of whether to take remedial courses or even the course placement tests. Many community college officials fear that an influx of unprepared students could destabilize introductory courses and set those who will struggle up for failure. The colleges have become ground zero in a national battle over remediation. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/23/13)
Common Core
Florida Gov. Rick Scott: State Will Curtail Role in Common Core Testing Consortium
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has told Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that the state will curtail its role in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC. According to a letter, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said Scott is directing the state to no longer serve as PARCC's fiscal agent, but Florida has not withdrawn from the consortium. The state will examine "all options" with regard to the Common Core assessments. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/23/13)
Common Core
Common Core Name Changes, Standards Remain
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ordered her agencies to stop using the term "Common Core’" when referring to new education standards. Instead, the name will be Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards. In an executive order, the governor said she was "reaffirming Arizona's right to set education policy." Her order spells out "no standards or curriculum shall be imposed on Arizona by the federal government." (Arizona Daily Star, 09/21/13)
Teacher Preparation
State Raises Bar for Future Educators
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the state will require a minimum 3.0 grade point average for admission to its teacher and principal education programs at the State University of New York (SUNY). There are 17 teacher education programs at SUNY schools, and they supply 25% of the state's teachers. Currently, there are no minimum standards for entrance to teacher preparation programs. (Albany Times-Union, 09/24/13)
Friday, September 20
Accountability
Schools Get New Rating System
Pennsylvania education officials unveiled a new grading system for schools that they described as a tool to monitor and improve student achievement. School Performance Profiles will offer academic ratings for each building based on a 100-point scale. Schools are now judged on data including attendance, participation in standardized testing, graduation rates and closing the achievement gap. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 09/19/13)
College Outreach
Delaware Seeks to Steer the Poor to Top Colleges
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell announced a new effort to encourage high-achieving low-income students to apply to top colleges, saying it would send application fee waivers and other information to every such high school senior. The program, a collaboration with the College Board, is a response to recent research showing that most poor students with high grades do not apply to any top colleges. (New York Times, 09/18/13)
Early College Credit
Grants to Help High School Students Get Certified for Careers
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced $5.5 million in grants to school boards to increase the use of digital technology and to help students earn college credits and career certification while in high school. O'Malley and state school Superintendent Lillian M. Lowery announced six winners of grants under a program called the Early College Innovation Fund and seven under the Digital Learning Innovation Fund. (Baltimore Sun, 09/18/13)
Prior Learning Credits
Credit for Service
Statewide higher education offices in seven Midwestern states have banded together under the Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit to help student veterans earn college credit for the training and experience they receive in the U.S. military. Many veterans of recent wars say they have not received an adequate number of credits for skills they learned while in the military. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/19/13)
Race to the Top
GAO: Race to Top States Have Mixed Record on Teacher Evaluation
Race to the Top states are having differing degrees of success with crafting new teacher evaluations that take student performance into account, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Sustaining the new evaluation systems is going to be a tall order, nearly all the states reported. But overall, most of the states are happy with the level of support they're getting from the Education Department. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/18/13)
Thursday, September 19
Common Core
U.S. Ed. Dept. Issues Guidance on 'Double-Testing' Flexibility
In new guidance, the Education Department offered states the chance to suspend their current tests this spring, as long as they administer field tests being designed by the two Common Core assessment consortia. States will not have to report the results of the field tests. A department letter explained options for states as they transition their testing regimens to reflect the Common Core standards. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/17/13)
Performance Funding
Performance-Based Appropriations May Not Sway Student Outcomes
Despite changes in state postsecondary performance funding policies over the years, there still is no evidence that these strategies have a big effect on student outcomes, according to a new report. The authors advise that states dedicate a much larger share of tax dollars to rewarding student success, align performance measures with workforce goals, and allow different types of institutions to meet different standards. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/19/13)
School Calendar
Iowa District Puts Twist on Four-Day Week
As more districts adopt four-day weeks to cope with budget crunches, one rural Iowa district is embracing the practice to squeeze more time for student enrichment and teachers' professional development. The plan follows the passage of H.F. 215, which defines school year length requirements. More states are altering their school year definitions from days to hours to allow more flexibility, according to ECS' Kathy Christie. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/17/13)
Student Absenteeism
Battling Chronic Absences: Report Examines States' Prevention Plans
A new report from Attendance Works provides steps state policymakers can take to get a better handle on chronic absenteeism, which places anywhere from 5 million to 7.5 million students "academically at risk." It includes adopting a standard definition of chronic absence and regularly reporting absence statistics, down to grade levels and subgroups. The report praises several states for their use of data. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/18/13)
Student Remediation
New York to Give Schools Flexibility on Testing Help
The New York Board of Regents approved a proposal that limits how many students will receive added help because so many failed a new set of standardized tests. Schools say they don't have the resources to help all the students who struggled on the tests. Thirty-one percent of elementary and middle students were proficient in math and reading, down from 65% in math and 55% in English on exams given in 2012. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 09/16/13)
Wednesday, September 18
Common Core
K-12, Higher Education Collaborating on Common Core, Survey Finds
A recent survey found that most states report that the K-12 and higher education sectors are working together to implement the Common Core standards. But of the 40 states that responded to the Center on Education Policy survey, K-12 state education agency officials in 16 states reported facing major challenges and another 19 encountered minor challenges in collaborating with higher education. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/17/13)
Early Learning Programs
Lifelines for Poor Children (Commentary)
James J. Heckman, economist and Nobel laureate, argues that what is missing in the current debate over economic inequality is enough serious discussion about investing in effective early childhood development from birth to age 5. And current education programs don’t start early enough, nor do they produce the skills that matter most for personal and societal prosperity. (New York Times, 09/14/13)
High School Exams/Common Core
Pa. Board of Education OKs Common Core Standards
The Pennsylvania state board approved a plan to require all students to pass proficiency tests in science, math, and language arts before graduating. The vote to approve the Common Core standards came after state officials said they would limit the proficiency tests to public schools, and agreed not to impose a statewide curriculum or reading lists or expand the collection of students' personal data. (Philadelphia Enquirer, 09/13/13)
NCLB Waivers
Ed. Dept., Arizona Clash Over Waiver
An Education Department letter indicates that Arizona may be the next state in trouble over its No Child Left Behind waiver after it submitted a final draft of its accountability system that does not meet federal demands on high school graduation rates or teacher evaluations. Arizona’s waiver was set to expire at the end of the last school year unless the state met those conditions and the flexibility was renewed. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/16/13)
Online Courses
Mini MOOC Minors
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will this fall package some of its online courses into more cohesive sequences, just as edX prepares to roll out certificates of completion using identity verification. Seen together, the two announcements may provide a glimpse at what the future holds for the massive open online course, or MOOCs, provider. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/18/13)
Monday, September 16
College Outreach
Promise Seen in College Awareness Program for Middle Schoolers
A University of Michigan study found strong evidence that early exposure to college, mentoring, and community service leadership used by the 22-year-old College for Every Student had a substantial impact on college-going attitudes of disadvantaged students. Seventy-five percent of its program participants in the study plan to attend four-year colleges, compared with 5% of students in a control group.(Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/13/13)
College Readiness
Going to the Root of the Problem
A group of Tennessee community colleges has been working with high schools to try to help more students get ready for college math. The experiment, known as the SAILS project, has shown impressive early results. Gov. Bill Haslam is spending $1.1 million from a state college-completion fund to expand the project to 114 high schools and all 13 of the state's community colleges. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/13/13)
Kindergarten Assessments
Ed. Dept. Awards $15M in Grants for Kindergarten Entry Assessments
Faced with three high-quality applicants for a grant to create assessments aimed at students entering kindergarten, the Education Department announced that it will say yes to all of them. A seven-state consortium led by Maryland will receive $4.9 million, and a nine-state group led by North Carolina was awarded $6.1 million. Texas applied for and will receive $3.9 million. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/13/13)
ESEA Reauthorization
State and Locals to U.S. Senate: Rewrite No Child Left Behind Act
A collection of prominent organizations sent a letter to Senate leaders urging them to bring a bill to the floor to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and soon. The letter was signed by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National League of Cities, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and four other groups. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/13/13)
Online Learning
Course Provider Joins Google to Start Learning Platform
In what it expects to become "the YouTube of online learning," edX, the nonprofit online consortium started by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is joining forces with Google to start a new open-source learning platform, Open edX, and the website, MOOC.org. The initiative will let individuals, businesses, and institutions offer online courses to a global audience. (New York Times, 09/12/13)
Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention Efforts Grow in Statehouses
Since 2007, Utah and 11 other states have approved versions of the Jason Flatt Act, which requires states to provide suicide awareness training to school employees, including teachers, nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and administrators. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among those between 15 and 24. See ECS' summary of state suicide prevention approaches. (Stateline.org, 09/12/13)
Friday, September 13
College Remediation
Report Signals Promising Strategies for Remedial Education
Remedial education is being revamped and made more relevant to students' career goals as states and community colleges experiment with ways to keep them from getting discouraged and dropping out, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The report stops short of recommending specific strategies, leaving that up to a national remediation-research center that will open next year. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/12/13)
Common Core/ELLs
Smarter Balanced Approves Testing Supports for English-Learners
The Smarter Balanced states that are designing Common Core assessments have agreed to a series of supports for students that include native language translations of test directions and items in math for students who are not yet proficient in English. Member states with laws that restrict or prohibit the use of languages other than English to teach or assess ELLs do not have to offer such translation options. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/11/13)
Education Funding
State K-12 Funding Lags Six Years after Recession Hit, Report Says
A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report found that at least 34 states are funding schools at lower levels for 2013-14 than they did in 2007-08, on a per-student basis and adjusted for inflation. And 13 states have cut spending by more than 10% over that time, while Alabama and Oklahoma have cut spending by more than 20%. The report also says that 15 states cut their K-12 spending from 2012-13 to 2013-14. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/12/13)
Kindergarten Enrollment
Kindergarten Applications Going Digital
Starting next year, New York City parents will be able to apply for kindergarten online through a department of education website, ranking their school choices and submitting a single application. The online application, called Kindergarten Connect, was tested in 2012 in three districts and "significantly more" parents applied early for kindergarten spots as a result, the city said. (New York Times, 09/12/13)
Teacher Certification
National Board Certification to Be Cheaper, Smoother
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced that it would decrease the credential's price tag by $600, give teachers more flexibility in completing the required assessments, and integrate new information into the certification process, including student academic progress measures. The changes are meant to respond to new teacher-quality research and address barriers to board certification. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/10/13)
Teacher Evaluation
Teacher Evaluation Pilot Hints at Strengths, Weaknesses
More than nine out of 10 of Colorado teachers evaluated during a pilot test of the state's educator effectiveness were rated proficient or higher on the system's five-step rating scale. But 87% of were rated proficient or higher on content knowledge and facilitating learning. And on one element of content knowledge, literacy development, only two-thirds of teachers received proficient ratings or better. (EdNews Colorado, 09/10/13)
Thursday, September 12
Competency-Based Ed
Getting College Credit for What You Already Know
The University of Wisconsin System soon will offer a new option for working adults who want to complete their bachelor's degrees. Under the Flexible Option, students can earn credits and a degree by proving they've mastered competencies. The Flex Option is aimed at helping more than 700,000 residents who have college credit but no degree, and adults who don't have time to attend classes. (National Public Radio, 09/11/13)
Low-Performing Schools
Va. Battle Brews Over Law Authorizing State-Run District
School boards in Virginia are planning a legal fight against a new law signed by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell that creates a state-run K-12 district for schools performing poorly academically. Such a move would challenge a policy that has been put to use in various ways by officials in such states as Louisiana, Michigan, and Tennessee seeking more direct control over struggling schools. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/11/13)
Kindergarten Assessments
Oregon Kindergartners Tested to Help Gauge First Steps in School
Thousands of Oregon kindergartners are participating in a new statewide assessment expected to help education officials, teachers, and parents gauge how prepared children are to learn as they take their first steps in the school system. Students who don't do well on the assessment won't be prevented from entering kindergarten. (Salem Statesman-Journal, 09/09/13)
STEM Programs
N.C. Program to Recognize Exemplary STEM Schools
With the STEM label being applied liberally these days, North Carolina is launching an effort to recognize school programs that demonstrate they deserve the moniker. The initiative is guided by a set of attributes centered around three pillars: an integrated curriculum for STEM that is standards-based, ongoing community and industry engagement, and connections with postsecondary education. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/10/13)
Teacher Preparation
TFA Teachers Shown to Boost Secondary Math Learning
A new study found that Teach For America secondary math teachers helped their students learn more than colleagues who entered teaching through a traditional, university-based program. They also outperformed experienced teachers in that subject. Teachers trained through Teaching Fellows, another alternative route program, were indistinguishable overall from teachers trained in other ways. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/11/13)
Wednesday, September 11
Career Pathways
Georgia 9th graders Will Have to Pick Career Paths
Hoping to boost graduation rates and prepare students for the workforce, Georgia is requiring 9th graders to pick one of 17 broad career "clusters." They can opt instead to take more college-prep courses, but officials hope college-bound students will voluntarily take career-specific classes as well. With the new mandatory clusters, Georgia is following a national trend to align coursework with the employers' needs. (Athens Banner-Herald, 09/09/13)
Education Research
What Should Be the Federal Role in School Research?
Research experts, including ECS vice president Kathy Christie, and congressional lawmakers seemed to agree that the Education Department's research agency has become more rigorous under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. During a hearing on the law's reauthorization, however, House Education Committee members wondered whether the research is actually being used by anyone. Listen to the hearing from this link. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/10/13)
Federal Funding
Sequester Hits Special Education Like 'Ton of Bricks'
Across the country, advocates for children with disabilities are grappling with the impact of the federal sequestration, despite the lack of hard data on the impact of the budget cuts on special education. The Department of Education estimates the sequester cut about $579 million in federal funding for IDEA Part B. States are beginning to respond with a variety of approaches. (Stateline.org, 09/09/13)
Financial Aid
Public Colleges' Quest for Revenue and Prestige Squeezes Needy Students
A ProPublica analysis of Department of Education data shows that, from 1996 to 2012, public colleges and universities gave a declining portion of grants—the number and dollar amounts—to students in the lowest quartile of family income. When those institutions raise tuition and don't offer more aid, low-income students are often forced to decide not just which college to attend but whether they can afford to attend college at all. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/11/13)
High School Credit
Bill Would Let Middle School Students Earn High School Credits
Wisconsin 7th and 8th graders would be eligible to earn high school credit as early as the 2014-15 school year under a proposed bill, S.B. 284. Students taking courses that are taught using high school equivalent curriculum and assessments and are led by teachers licensed to teach the classes at the high school level could be granted credit by their school board. (Wisconsin State Journal, 09/09/13)
Tuesday, September 10
Assessments/Common Core
U.S. Secretary of Education Opposes California's Testing Plan
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan threatened to withhold federal funds if California lawmakers approve A.B. 484. The law would move up the state's plan to replace standardized exams with a computerized system intended to advance the Common Core standards. Duncan's response criticized the plan because it also would result in the suspension of test scores for at least a year during a trial run of the new exams. (Los Angeles Times, 09/09/13)
Assessments/NCLB Waivers
No Waiver for Texas on Testing for Younger Students
The federal government has denied Texas' request to waive No Child Left Behind testing requirements, the state education department announced. If the waiver had been granted, students who excel on state reading and math exams in the 3rd and 5th grades would have been allowed to skip exams in those subjects in the 4th, 6th, and 7th grades under a law, H.B. 866, passed this year. (Texas Tribune, 09/09/13)
Competency-based Ed
Missing Homework, Late Assignments Matter Little as Oregon Schools Grade on Academic Mastery
Starting this term, every Oregon student is supposed to be graded solely by whether they have mastered the academic skills covered in class. Turning everything in on time and racking up extra credit won't boost grades. But educators agree the approach—required under H.B. 2220 of 2011—is causing emotional discussions, big policy changes, and a huge culture shift in schools. See ECS' summary of competency-based activities. (Oregonian, 09/07/13)
Early Literacy
New Statewide Plan Aims to Boost Early Literacy
A statewide push to increase early literacy has the goal of helping all Iowa students read at or above grade level by the end of 3rd grade. Educators will receive training in Response to Intervention—an instruction and assessment method that will make it easier for teachers to identify and help struggling students. State and federal funds have been used to buy tests and develop a database for the program. (Des Moines, 09/10/13)
Federal Funding
New School Year Brings Sequestration Pain for Many Districts
Several districts—especially in low-income areas—are starting the school year hit hard by the $3 billion cut from federal education funds due to sequestration. Not everybody is hurting, says Michael Griffith, an ECS school finance consultant. He says many districts don't rely as heavily on federal dollars, so the 5% cut required by sequestration hasn't hit them as hard. (NPR.org, 09/07/13)
Monday, September 9
Accountability
Tony Bennett Grading Scandal: New Report Offers Lessons for Other States
A new report commissioned by Indiana legislative leaders finds that the changes made to the state's grading system, which benefited a charter school run by a political donor to former state superintendent Tony Bennett, were "plausible," but they were applied consistently to other schools. The report offers lessons for other states regarding the challenges to implementing new accountability systems. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/06/13)
College Remediation/Completion
Wyoming Community College Commission Director Calls for Remedial Course Changes
The director of the Wyoming Community College Commission says the state should require remedial courses for affected students while still in high school rather than waiting until they enter college. Jim Rose also says school officials should work to get students through the community colleges more quickly in order to save the students money and get them into the workforce or on the path to a higher degree. (Casper Tribune, 09/07/13)
Financial Aid
Pondering Pell
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office provides some facts about why spending on the Pell Grant program has grown significantly since 2006. The report also offers evidence about the potential effects of some of the current proposals to change the program and some alternative methods of helping low-income students afford college. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/06/13)
Science Standards
State Board Adopts National K-12 Next Generation Science Standards
California became the sixth state—along with Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Rhode Island and Vermont—to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards with the approval by the state board of education. The board, however, has not yet adopted a timeline for implementing them. There is some concern that teachers already will be overwhelmed by the Common Core math and English standards. (EdSource, 09/05/13)
Friday, September 6
Career/Tech Ed
Eight D.C. Schools Receive Planning Grants to Establish Career Academies
The District of Columbia has allocated $2.8 million to help high schools plan for nine new "career academies" meant to help students gain the skills they will need to enter the workforce after graduation, Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced. The academies will offer internships and training in one of three career tracks: hospitality, engineering, and information technology. See ECS' report on career/tech education. (Washington Post, 09/05/13)
College Completion
Colleges' Search for Former Students Eligible for an Associate Degree Is Moderately Successful
More than 4,000 former college students who were either eligible for an associate degree or a few classes short were located by their institutions and have received a degree, according to the Project Win-Win initiative. The results were encouraging, but the process at 61 colleges in nine states was time-consuming and frustrating as staffers combed records to find eligible students and then tried to track them down. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 09/04/13)
Common Core
LePage Emphasizes Maine Educational Autonomy
Gov. Paul LePage signed an executive order making clear that Maine has always set its own education policy and does not—and will not—share any data with the federal government that would jeopardize student privacy. Privacy concerns have been raised by critics of the Common Core standards, even though states are not required to provide the federal government with student data. (Portland Press Herald, 09/04/13)
Early College Credit
College Costs Drive Record Number of High School Kids to Start Early
A record number of students are getting a head start on college credits while in high school, cutting costs, and speeding toward degrees as quickly as possible. In addition to taking AP tests or dual enrollment courses, students are receiving college credit for life experiences, or skipping their senior years to attend early colleges. Some 1.3 million students took dual enrollment classes in 2010-11, according to federal data—a 67% increase since 2003. (Hechinger Report, 09/05/13)
Higher Ed Funding
Report Faults States on Funds for Black Land-Grant Colleges
States generally meet their obligations to match certain federal funds that go to predominantly white land-grant universities, but this isn't the case for historically black land-grant colleges, according to a new report, which also offers policy recommendations. Between 2010-12, the black land-grant colleges should have received an additional $56 million in state funds. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/06/13)
Thursday, September 5
Common Core
Education Officials Propose to Eliminate Some Standardized Tests
California education officials presented a proposal that would immediately do away with the standardized STAR tests for reading, math, and social science. Instead, the state would introduce the new assessments aligned with the Common Core. The state previously had planned to sample the new tests with about 20% of students. The plan requires approval from the legislature and the U.S. Department of Education. (San Jose Mercury News, 09/04/13)
Early Literacy
New School Year Brings Heightened Focus on Reading
Wisconsin's budget set aside $2.5 million this year to fund a universal literacy screener for kindergartners and 1st-graders, as part of a number of initiatives aimed at ramping up reading achievement. A task force on reading spearheaded by Gov. Scott Walker and State Superintendent Tony Evers set much of the activity in motion, as have the Common Core standards. The spotlight also is on teacher training programs. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 09/03/13)
Future of Higher Ed
Higher Education Is Headed for a Shakeout, Analysts Warn
Facing skeptical customers, declining enrollment, an antiquated financial model that is hemorrhaging money, and new kinds of low-cost competition, some universities and colleges may be going the way of the music and journalism industries. Their predicament has become so bad that financial analysts, regulators, and bond-rating agencies are beginning to warn that many institutions could close. (Hechinger Report, 09/03/13)
Math Courses
Algebra 2: Not the Same Credential It Used to Be?
A lot more students are completing the course, but a Brooking Institution analysis suggests that line on the transcript means less than in days of yore. "Taking and successfully completing an Algebra II course, which once certified high school students' mastery of advanced topics in algebra and solid preparation for college-level mathematics, no longer means what it once did," writes the report's author Tom Loveless. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/04/13)
School Preparedness
States Still Fall Short on Schools' Disaster Preparedness, Says Report
Despite the tragedies of the last school year in Newtown, Conn., and Moore, Okla., more than half of states are lacking when it comes to their policies and plans for school emergency preparedness, according to a new report. The report judged states' on plans for evacuating children in child care, reuniting families after a disaster, children with disabilities, and multiple types of hazards for K-12 schools. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 09/04/13)
Wednesday, September 4
High-performing States
Expecting the Best Yields Results in Massachusetts
Adopting rigorous standards, and sticking with them while giving teachers some breathing room, has helped Massachusetts' students rise to number one in the nation on science and math achievement and perform well compared to high-achieving nations. Massachusetts, however, did not pursue other popular reforms such as vouchers, low-performing schools closures, or teacher tenure restrictions. (New York Times, 09/02/13)
Higher Ed Funding
Sagging State Funding Jacks up College Tuition
Despite some recent tuition freezes, public universities continue to suffer from significant spending cuts by their own states. The cuts are seen as the primary driver of tuition inflation. Between 2007 and 2012, 15 states experienced declines in higher-education funding of nearly 30% or more, according to a SHEEO report. Since the recession, 48 states have cut appropriations while just two have increased funding. (USA Today, 09/03/13)
Higher Ed Governance
Limited Confidence in Boards
About three-fourths of college presidents said they were confident their institutions were well-governed by their boards, according to a survey by Gallup and Inside Higher Ed. But 40% of college presidents—including 68% of public four-year college presidents—said they would replace board members if they could, and 11% disagree that their institutions are well-governed at the board level. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/04/13)
Kindergarten Funding
Extra State Aid for Kindergarten Mixed Blessing for Districts
Washington lawmakers increased funding for free, full-day kindergarten by nearly $50 million to more than double the number of such classes offered. But because the money can't be used to fund new classroom space, putting it to use has brought logistical and financial challenges in some cases. A state Supreme Court decision has charged lawmakers with making all kindergartens full-day by 2017. See ECS' summary of kindergarten policies. (Seattle Times, 09/02/13)
Teacher Evaluations
32% of Teachers 'Highly Effective'
Nearly one in three teachers got the top rating in the first year of Louisiana's new job evaluations, while 4% were labeled as ineffective, according to new data. In addition, the results show that 57 % were rated as effective/proficient and 8% were rated as effective/emerging, which suggests they need improvement. One concern is the unevenness of the rigor of the reviews from district to district. (Baton Rouge Advocate, 09/03/13)
Tuesday, September 3
Advanced Placement
Math, Science Program Sees Big Improvement on AP Tests
The pass rate on rigorous Advanced Placement tests went up by 72% last year at high schools that took part in a National Math and Science Initiative program that trains teachers and gives students extra help on Saturdays. The program has been especially helpful in boosting success for girls and minority students. The group's AP program last year was in 18 states and will be added in four more states this year. (Sacramento Bee, 08/29/13)
English-language Learners
New Guide To Help States Commonly Define English-Learners
A set of recommendations from the Council of Chief State School Officers aims to guide states as they try to bring much more uniformity to identifying who English-learners are and when those students are no longer in need of language instruction. The goal is to move all states to a more consistent playing field over the next two years. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/30/13)
Student Debt/Employment
Leaner and Meaner
Round two of the battle over gainful employment regulations has begun. The Department of Education released draft standards for the employment outcomes of academic programs at for-profit institutions and community colleges. The new draft standards appear to be stricter, for the most part, than the stalled ones they replace. (Inside Higher Ed, 09/03/13)
Value of College Degrees
Elite Degrees Don't Necessarily Earn More, Study Finds
A new American Institutes for Research study found that students from regional and second-tier campuses, on average, earn about the same as those who go to prestigious flagship universities. It also confirms that students with associate's degrees often out-earn bachelor's degree-holders, and that some new graduates in science fields don't make much more than English language or literature majors. (Hechinger Report, 09/03/13)
Workforce Development
State Hopes to Lure Former Residents
The Louisiana board of regents is hoping to entice thousands of college graduates who left the state to return home and fill what is expected to be a wave of new high-technology jobs. Operation Recall will target more than 40,000 people, many of whom have degrees in computer science and engineering. (Baton Rouge Advocate, 08/29/13)
Friday, August 30
AP Exams
Louisiana Gets Federal Money to Help Poor Kids Take AP Tests for Free
The Department of Education awarded Louisiana $158,085 to cover the costs of administering advancement placement tests to low-income high school students. The funding helped the state give some 3,140 exams last semester for no cost. The exams usually cost $89 each. In all, the department released $28.8 million in grants to 42 states to cover fees charged to low-income students for taking AP tests. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/27/13)
NCLB Waivers
Arne Duncan Attaches More Strings to NCLB Waiver Renewals
The Department of Education is expecting states to up the ante on teacher quality if they want another two years of No Child Left Behind flexibility, according to new state guidance. To get a two-year extension of their waivers, states must reaffirm their commitment to college- and career-ready standards and tests, and to implementing differentiated accountability systems that focus on closing achievement gaps. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/29/13)
Online Learning
Florida Virtual School Faces Hard Times
The Florida Virtual School—the largest state-sponsored online K-12 school in the country—is facing troubled times, a sign of major policy shifts now reshaping the world of online education. On the heels of state legislation aimed at containing costs and promoting competition among providers offering individual online courses to students, Florida Virtual School officials expect to see a 20% drop in state revenue this year. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/28/13)
Online Learning
Michigan Students to Have Many Options for Online Learning
The year will represent the most substantial expansion of online education in Michigan. Five new cyber schools are opening. Many traditional districts are boosting their online offerings. And students in grades 5-12 will be able to take up to two online courses per semester offered by any district or the state's virtual school that will be part of a course catalog maintained by the Michigan Virtual University. (Detroit Free Press, 08/30/13)
Pre-K Rating Systems
Study: Preschool Rating Systems Disconnected from Child Outcomes
Preschools that are highly ranked by state evaluation systems produce outcomes for children that are not significantly better than lower-ranked programs because those systems may be including too many indicators, according to a study released in the journal Science. One takeaway is that states need to simplify their rating systems, according to a lead author of the study. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/29/13)
Thursday, August 29
Accountability
Grades for Utah Schools Expected to Stir Controversy
Utah's schools will receive their first report cards under a new grading system, and lawmakers and educators are bracing for the anticipated backlash. Schools will receive an overall letter grade based on student proficiency as well as their growth on end-of-level testing. The changes also require that 95% of students participate in end-of-level testing. Failing to do so results in an automatic F grade. (Deseret News, 08/27/13)
Family Engagement
Family Engagement Focus of $5 Million Kellogg Foundation Investment
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced plans to invest $5 million to enhance and develop family engagement efforts to support the education of children from birth to age 8 living in low-income and/or minority communities. Organizations could receive funding for models that emphasize family leadership development, effective teaching strategies, and work on aligning early-childhood education programs. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/27/13)
High School Courses
Louisiana's 'Course Choice' Program Gets Underway
A new Louisiana program that allows students to shop for publicly funded high school courses is getting started after hitting a roadblock when its original funding mechanism was deemed unconstitutional. The initiative, now supported with $3 million in state aid, is enabling several thousand students to select from a broad swath of courses—whether online, face-to-face, or blended—supplied by a mix of public and private providers. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/28/13)
Student Data
Reports Track Students from High School to College
The Colorado higher education department released new reports, called District at a Glance, which combines previously reported information about high school graduation, college enrollment, and remediation rates to provide a more comprehensive look at how students do when they move from high school to college. The reports for the first time break out college attendance by racial and ethnic groups. (EdNews Colorado, 08/27/13)
Teacher Evaluations
Teachers Face More Rigorous Annual Evaluations
This school year, Connecticut will tie 45% of a teacher's evaluation to student performance, with half of that based on state standardized test scores. But many districts will likely not use standardized test scores this year because the state is in the midst of shifting to a new computerized test and has requested a federal waiver that would permit districts to choose whether to include the scores. (Hartford Courant, 08/26/13)
Wednesday, August 28
Charter Schools
At Charter Schools, Short Careers by Choice
Charter school networks are developing what amounts to a youth cult in which teaching for two to five years is seen as acceptable and, at times, even desirable. Teachers in traditional public schools have an average of close to 14 years of experience. With teachers confronting the overhaul of evaluations and tenure, the small but rapidly growing charter movement is pushing to redefine the arc of a teaching career. (New York Times, 08/26/13)
Common Core
States Eye Changes as They Move Toward Common Assessments
Most states have already begun the process of changing their year-end tests to reflect the Common Core, but nearly all report that they face challenges ahead in making the transition to computer-based tests, according to a Center on Education Policy study. The survey found, for example, that 27 states will be assessing the Common Core this year, or already began doing so last year. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/28/13)
College Completion
Study Finds High Rate of College Dropouts in R.I
By the beginning of the third semester, only 47% of Rhode Island students who enrolled in one of the state's public institutions are still in college. And test scores and GPAs are a relatively small factor in predicting who will complete college, according to a study. The types of courses a student takes and the trajectory of those courses play a greater role in college retention, ECS Vice President Matt Gianneschi said during a state board retreat. (Providence Journal, 08/26/13)
College Rankings
Colleges with the Best Value? New Rankings Upend Conventional Wisdom
Rather than seeking to rate colleges based on reputation or difficulty of admission, a set of rankings by Washington Monthly looked at how colleges did based on what it considers three public goods: social mobility, commitment to research, and commitment to service. Institutions were rewarded for things like enrolling low-income students, helping them to graduate on time, and keeping tuition low. (Christian Science Monitor, 08/27/13)
Teacher Preparation
Teacher Preparation on the Upswing in Oregon, but Still Needs Faster, Broader Improvement
Oregon colleges are doing a better job preparing teachers, particularly by upgrading student-teaching, but changes need to happen faster and for more aspiring teachers, a state audit found. Many changes recommended already are under way and will be accelerated now that mandates under H.B. 3233 are being carried out. The bill creates a network to research, plan, and carry out educator training and retraining. (Oregonian, 08/20/13)
Tuesday, August 27
Career/Tech Ed
How to Close the Youth 'Skills Gap': South Carolina's 'Secret Sauce'
In South Carolina, educators, employers, and government are working together to close the skills gap and create opportunity for young people on a broader scale. They are accomplishing this through greater attention to high school career and technical education, a first-rate system of state technical colleges, and a well-managed effort to increase the number of apprenticeship positions. The state's role is through Apprenticeship Carolina. (PBS NewsHour, 08/26/13)
NCLB Waivers
Study: Waivers Leave Behind At-risk Students
Millions of at-risk students could fall through the cracks as the Education Department gives states waivers from parts of No Child Left Behind, according to a Campaign for High School Equity study. The resulting patchwork of rule has allowed almost 2,300 schools to shed their label of seriously troubled. And students who are at the highest risk of dropping out are often no longer tracked as carefully as before. (Boston Globe, 08/26/13)
Online Learning
Options for Full-Time Online Education Expand in Texas
The number of full-time cyber schools serving Texas students will double in the upcoming year despite a history of lackluster performance and a new law limiting how many online courses students can take at the state's expense. The law's author said he added language limiting the number of online classes students can take to three per year because of concerns that the legislation might lead to more full-time online schools. (Texas Tribune, 08/26/13)
Small Schools
Success for Students in Small N.Y.C. High Schools Continues
Teachers and principals at the most effective high schools in New York City attribute their success to the closer connections between teachers and students, high academic expectations, and smaller size. A new MDCR study shows that the Small Schools Approach (SSC) in New York City is not only working for disadvantaged students of color, but also for students with disabilities and English-language learners. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/26/13)
Teacher Evaluations
R.I. School Official: NECAP Results Won’t Be Used in Grading Teachers this Year
Rhode Island has suspended for one-year the use of student progress on the NECAP test as part of its teacher evaluations to give the education department time to explain the "growth model" of student progress. The state will have to get a federal waiver so its Race to the Top grant isn't jeopardized. NECAP still will be used this year for the first time as a high school graduation requirement. (Providence Journal, 08/25/13)
Monday, August 26
Career/Tech Ed
State Legislation Leads to Boom in Technical Education
Kansas now pays tuition for high school juniors and seniors to take courses at technical colleges as a result of 2012 legislation. Last year the number of students taking career and technical classes at community and technical colleges jumped 50%, from 3,870 to 5,800. Although students can take any career and technical courses, there is an incentive for schools to steer them toward high-demand options. (Topeka Capital-Journal, 08/22/13)
Education Reforms
Education Panel Sends Recommendations to Otter
In addition to backing new math, reading, and writing standards, the education task force created by Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has offered other recommendations to potentially become policy or legislation. Among the recommendations: focus more on competency than grades, boost early literacy, and expand access to wireless technology. (Idaho Statesman, 08/23/13)
NCLB Waivers
Federal Oversight Takes Aim at Waiver Compliance
In the wake of the Department of Education’s decision to place three states on "high-risk status" for problems with their No Child Left Behind waivers, it's clear that the federal push to grant states flexibility in school accountability will be fraught with stumbles. During an initial phase of monitoring, federal officials are eyeing other potential land mines as well, according to an Education Week analysis. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/26/13)
Vouchers/Desegregation
U.S. Government Sues to Block Vouchers in Some Louisiana School Systems
The Justice Department is suing Louisiana to block 2014-15 vouchers for students in districts that are under desegregation orders. The first year of vouchers "impeded the desegregation process," the federal government says. Thirty-four school systems could be affected. Under the lawsuit, the state would be barred from assigning students in those systems to private schools unless a federal judge agreed to it. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/24/13)
Workforce Development
Gov. Mike Pence Launches Center for Career Innovation
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has launched the Center for Education and Career Innovation to serve as a collaboration point for state agencies helping students and adults prepare for quality careers. It's intended to help address the state's stubborn unemployment rate and skills gap. The center also brings together the new Indiana Career Council and Regional Works Councils and the Education Roundtable. (Indianapolis Star, 08/23/13)
Friday, August 23
Common Core
Deal Orders Review of Common Core
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered a sweeping review of the Common Core State Standards and asked the state board to "formally un-adopt" a part of the program that includes sample English test selections that infuriated some parents. Deal also asked the board to develop a new social studies curriculum that emphasizes, among other aspects, civic and fiscal responsibility. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 08/21/13)
Common Core
Defending the Common Core
Will the Common Core State Standards eliminate cursive writing? Will they create a national warehouse of student data? Those are a couple of the questions that have created hot spots in the debate about the Common Core. A new paper by the Alliance for Excellent Education takes on six of the questions that have fueled ongoing skepticism of the new standards. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/21/13)
Early Literacy/Retention
Strapped for Money and Staff, Hundreds of Ohio Districts Unprepared
At least 342 Ohio districts and charter schools have notified the department of education that they are not prepared for the new 3rd-grade reading guarantee. The uniform concern is that there was not enough time in the one year since the requirement was passed by the legislature to adequately train teachers. Many had to return to college or attend special classes at their own expense. (Akron Beacon Journal, 08/16/13)
Financial Aid
Beyond Enrollment
A new study shows that an increased amount of need-based aid with no strings attached can have positive, long-term effects for low-income students. Students who qualify for the grants are more likely than their peers of similar socioeconomic backgrounds to enroll in a public four-year university, show an increased probability to persist in college, graduate within six years, and accumulate credits at a quicker pace. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/22/13)
Higher Ed Reforms
Performance Funding Goes Federal
President Obama has joined state policymakers in pushing performance-based funding for higher education. The sweeping, ambitious proposal Obama unveiled seeks to tie all federal financial aid programs to a rating system of colleges on affordability and performance measures. Note: This article provides additional information than was reported August 22. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/23/13)
Service Learning
Community Service Requirements Seen to Reduce Volunteering
Maryland's requirement that all students complete 75 hours of service learning by graduation led to significant boosts in 8th grade volunteering but actually decreased volunteering among older students, according to a new study. In 2011, 19 states allowed districts to award credit toward graduation for volunteering or service learning, and seven states allowed districts to require service for graduation, according to an ECS summary. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/21/13)
Thursday, August 22
Common Core/Assessments
Most Americans Unaware of Common Core, PDK/Gallup Poll Finds
Sixty-two percent of respondents in PDK/Gallup's annual survey have never heard of the Common Core State Standards. Among those who have, fewer than half believe the new, more rigorous academic standards will make the United States more competitive in the world. The poll also found that fewer than 25% of respondents believe increased testing has helped to improve schools. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/21/13)
Common Core
Petition Drive Begins to Pull Maine Out of 45-state Common Core Education Collaborative
The Maine Equal Rights Center and No Common Core Maine announced that they will launch a citizens' petition campaign to repeal the state's reliance on the Common Core standards. The ballot question, which would go to a November 2014 referendum if petitioners gather enough valid signatures, is the first of its kind in the country. (Bangor Daily News, 08/21/13)
Data Systems
Big Test Days Away for N.C. Schools' Computer System
The return of North Carolina's students to school provides the first massive test of PowerSchool, a data system that controls everything from bus routes to attendance records to grades. The statewide rollout is a first for the Pearson product. While it's been successful around the nation, the system has never been used for larger districts. (Charlotte Observer, 08/20/13)
Higher Ed Reforms
Obama's Ratings for Higher Ed
President Obama appears to be making good on his vow to propose a "shake-up" for higher education. Obama released a plan that would: create a rating system for colleges based on various outcomes, on affordability, and on access; link student aid to these ratings; create a program that would give colleges a "bonus" if they enroll large numbers of students eligible for Pell Grants; and toughen requirements on students receiving aid. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/22/13)
Low-performing Schools
State Education Board Plans More Oversight in Failing Schools
The Missouri state board approved plans for increased oversight of failing schools, while praising efforts to transfer students out of unaccredited districts made possible under recent legislation. The board also agreed to hire an organization to perform a study of the Kansas City Public Schools, which lost accreditation last year but have not started transferring students because of a separate ongoing lawsuit. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 08/20/13)
Wednesday, August 21
NCLB Waivers
U.S. Dept. of Education Grants Pennsylvania Waiver from NCLB Law's AYP Requirement
In the new Pennsylvania system, there are four "annual measurable objectives" that make up the profile:
• A 95% participation rate on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments in grades 3-8 and the end-of-course Keystone exams for Algebra 1, biology, and literature, which in spring 2013 for the first time replaced the 11th-grade PSSAs.
• A graduation rate of 85% or higher or an improvement over the previous year. If a graduation rate doesn't apply, then there is an attendance rate target of 90% or improvement over the previous year.
• Closing the achievement gap of all students by 50% within six years. The gap is to be based on a comparison percentage of students who are proficient and advanced on 2012-13 state tests with 100% proficiency. The tests covered are the PSSA, Keystone Exams, and PASA, a test for severely menatlly handicapped or physically limited children.
• Closing the achievement gap of historically underperforming students, also by 50% within six years in a similar manner. This would be an unduplicated count of students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged, and English language learners enrolled for a full year and taking the state tests. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/20/2013)
School Scorecards
Some Michigan School Leaders Criticize New Scorecards that Give few Schools High Ratings
A new accountability system for Michigan schools shows many have a long way to go to meet ambitious goals set by the state—with most schools and districts earning a mark that indicates they are in need of improvement. The Michigan School Accountability Scorecards is a new system for holding schools accountable under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Schools and districts are assigned one of five colors—green, lime green, yellow, orange, and red—based on how well they meet goals, with the color green being best and red being worst. The majority of schools in the state—2,605—got a yellow. (Detroit Free Press, 8/20/2013)
College Readiness
Students Not Prepared for Rigor of College, ACT Data Show
The report released today by the Iowa City, Iowa-based organization found just 39% of test-takers in the class of 2013 met three or more of the ACT college-readiness benchmarks in English, reading, science, and math. Nearly one-third did not meet any. View the new ACT report on college readiness. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/19/13)
College Readiness
Minnesota Tops Nation Again in ACT Scores, College-Readiness
For an eighth consecutive year, Minnesota can lay claim to being best in the nation in the ACT college admissions test. State seniors again posted higher scores than those in other states in which at least half of students took the exam. Progress was made, too, in the percentage of state graduates deemed college-ready in each of the four subject areas being tested. This year, 39% of Minnesota seniors were proficient across the board, compared with 36% in 2012. "That is tops in the nation," state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. Results were mixed, however, in another chief area of concern: the large, persistent gap between white and minority test takers. (Minnesota Star Tribune 8/20/2013)
NCLB Waivers/Tutoring
Tutoring Firms Hit Hard by NCLB Waivers
The private tutoring industry has been hit hard by No Child Left Behind waivers, which allow districts to avoid the mandate that they use 20% of Title I funds for after-school tutoring and transportation for school choice to eligible students. Many for-profit providers have had to pursue new K-12 revenue streams, or even close their doors, as funding funneled through affected districts is being reallocated for other purposes. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/20/13)
STEM Courses
Idaho STEM Plan Aims to Beef Up Engineering, Computer Science Credit
The Idaho state board approved a proposal that would allow computer science and engineering courses to count as a math or science credit instead of electives. The rule singles out dual-credit engineering and dual-credit computer science, as well as AP computer science. One goal is to give students more exposure to high-demand STEM fields, according to a press release from the state superintendent's office. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/19/13)
Tuesday, August 20
Advanced Placement
Maryland Schools Have Been Leader in Advanced Placement, but Results Are Mixed
More than half of the Maryland's high school graduates now take an Advanced Placement class and nearly 30% have passed at least one exam, the highest rate in the country. In that sense, Maryland schools have become a laboratory for the nation. Too often, however, students who haven't been prepared in earlier grades flounder in AP classes, or are awarded A's and B's in the courses and then fail the AP exams. (Baltimore Sun, 08/19/13)
Education Policymaking
GOP Delivers on Activist K-12 Agenda in N.C.
After taking control of both chambers of the legislature and the governorship for the first time in 140 years, North Carolina Republicans have moved aggressively on K-12 policy this year, against a backdrop of continued statewide budget woes. Lawmakers and Gov. Pat McCrory created a new voucher program, ended teacher tenure, cut teacher bonuses for master's degrees, and expanded Teach For America funding. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/19/13)
Financial Aid
As Price of College Rises, So Does Federal Aid
With college costs continuing to rise, new federal data show that 71% of all undergraduate students received some type of financial aid in 2011-12, up from 66% four years earlier. Forty-two percent of students received federal grants, up from 28%, and 40% received federal loans, up from 35%. Meanwhile, 15% received state grants and 20% received a grant from their college—figures that have remained flat since 2007-08. (Boston Globe, 08/19/13)
Guidance Counselors
High School Counselors Face Learning Curve as State Law Assigns New Roles
Under a new Texas law, H.B. 5, that upended graduation requirements, each 9th-grader, along with a parent or guardian, must meet with a counselor. The counselor must help the student design a graduation plan that includes an "endorsement," an interest area that will guide the student's course choices through high school. The meeting is only part of the process that the law assigns to counselors. (Dallas Morning News, 08/19/13)
Head Start Funding
Head Start Releases Sequestration Cuts by State
About 57,000 fewer children have access to slots in the Head Start program due to the across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration, according to numbers released from the Office of Head Start. About 51,000 of those positions were allocated to Head Start and 6,000 to Early Head Start. This article includes a chart that provides a breakdown for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/19/13)
Monday, August 19
Charter Schools
GAO: Many Charter Schools Are Not Reporting Data on ELLs
A recent Government Accountability Office report found that 37% of charter schools in 2010-11 did not report the number of English-language learners in their data collections for the federal government. While a blank field could mean that the charter did not have any ELL students, because of the high number of blank fields, the GAO suspects that it is a result of non-reporting instead. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/15/13)
Common Core
N.Y. Test-Score Plunge Adds Fuel to Common-Core Debate
The release of New York test scores showing steep plunges in math and English proficiency has state officials and educators grappling with the growing influence of the Common Core assessments. State officials say this year's scores give a more accurate and honest picture of students' college and career readiness. But others believe that the Common Core exams will be used to attack educators and will hamper students' development. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/19/13)
College Readiness
Bridging the Gap
Five years ago, a corporate foundation and an education and health advocacy group launched the Postsecondary Success Collaborative to smooth the path from high school to college. Data suggest that the initiative can succeed in raising college enrollment—especially among African-American and Latino students—largely by reorganizing existing services and coordinating the work of other college access programs. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/19/13)
State Superintendents
Maine Education Commissioner Resigns to Take National Post
Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen announced that he will resign effective Sept. 12 to take a job with the Council of Chief State School Officers, according to a press release. Bowen, who was appointed by Gov. Paul LePage in March 2011, has been at the center of the governor's ambitious and sometimes controversial education reform agenda. (Bangor Daily News, 08/16/13)
Teacher Licensing
Teacher License Plan Approved
The Tennessee board of education adopted a teacher licensing plan that members don’t like and know they will change. The board delayed implementing the new licensing process until August 2015 so more information can be collected about the use of student test scores to renew teacher licenses and so the board can make changes. (Tennessean, 08/17/13)
Friday, August 16
Faculty Workloads
Ceiling or Incentive?
Faculty groups in California are divided over the implications of legislation that would set a limit on how many overtime courses full-time faculty members can teach at community colleges. Assembly Bill 950 would prohibit full-time faculty from taking on extra course assignments exceeding 50% of their full-time semester or quarter workload. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/13/13)
High School Diplomas
State Ed Boards Approve 'Endorsed' Diplomas
Colorado's K-12 and higher education boards approved specifications for an "endorsed" high school diploma that would guarantee students automatic admission to some state colleges and universities. The diploma was included in a 2008 law that required new state content standards and tests and steps to make it easier for students to move from high school to college and to reduce remediation needs. (EdNews Colorado, 08/15/13)
Higher Ed Institutions
Georgia Regents to Align Colleges' Missions with System Goals
The University System of Georgia's Board of Regents adopted a new institutional function and mission policy that seeks to ensure that the missions of each of the state's colleges and universities are in line with the system's broader goals. The system will classify the institutions into one of four sectors: research universities, comprehensive universities, state universities, and state colleges. The Regents also adopted a new strategic plan. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 08/15/13)
NCLB Waivers
NCLB Waivers in Kansas, Oregon, Washington at 'High Risk'
The Department of Education is threatening to revoke No Child Left Behind waivers for three states at the end of the 2013-14 school year over their failure to come up with new teacher-evaluation systems tied to student growth. Kansas, Oregon, and Washington have been placed on "high-risk" status and given one more year to get their teacher-evaluation systems on track. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/15/13)
School Vouchers
Bill Would Place New Standards and Ratings on Public and Voucher Schools
All Wisconsin schools funded by state taxpayers—including private voucher schools—would be held to new standards, under long-expected legislation offered by two key lawmakers. The measure would establish the first-ever rating for private voucher schools based on their student performance data. Wisconsin recently expanded its statewide voucher program. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 08/14/13)
Thursday, August 15
College Readiness
Assessment Governing Board Defines 'College Prepared'
The governing board for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) adopted language that will define the new "college prepared" scores in reading and math on the 12th-grade exam. The final definition is based on scores that would indicate "plausible estimate[s]" of students possessing the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make them academically prepared for college. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/14/13)
Educational Attainment
Kitzhaber Signs Bills to Boost Education
Gov. John Kitzhaber ceremonially signed four bills aimed at improving the education system so all Oregonians will earn a high school diploma by 2025. It's part of the state's goal, called "40-40-20," that also will ensure that by 2025 40% of Oregonians will have a postsecondary certificate and 40% will hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The four bills represent $75 million in strategic investments to help achieve the goals. (Oregonian, 08/14/13)
Social Studies Standards
Tenn. Standards Win High Marks for Handling of Civil Rights Movement
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which in 2011 graded all states on their treatment of the civil rights movement, said Tennessee's social studies standards would move the state from a grade of C to an A. Only three other states have that top grade. The news comes as the United States is in the midst of 50th anniversary commemorations for a series of important milestones in civil rights history. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/13/13)
Teacher Preparation
Seeking Better Teachers, City Evaluates Local Colleges that Train Them
In an effort to shake up institutions that have been criticized as too insular and inert, Mayor Michael Bloomberg released scorecards for a dozen teacher-preparation programs in New York City. Public and private education schools are being evaluated in various ways, including how many graduates are certified in high-needs areas and whether their teachers have been able to increase student test scores. (New York Times, 08/14/13)
Wednesday, August 14
Assessments/Common Core
College Board Enters Expanding Common-Test Market
The College Board is redesigning four of its testing programs so they reflect the Common Core standards and can be used for accountability. The College Board announced last year that it would align the SAT to the standards. But its plans expanded to include three other products: ReadiStep, aimed at 8th and 9th graders; the PSAT, taken by 10th and 11th graders; and Accuplacer, used for college course placement. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/14/13)
Early Learning Funding
Early-Childhood Spending on the Upswing in Several States
A survey of 21 states by the National Conference of State Legislatures shows that spending on early-childhood programs is rising slightly, as states make investments in home-visiting programs and state preschool. While it shows that early-childhood spending in the surveyed states had increased collectively by $127 million since fiscal 2012, the increases were not uniform. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/12/13)
ESEA Reauthorization
ESEA Renewal: Exploring the Competing Proposals
Congress is at work on competing proposals to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The House passed its legislation on a partisan vote, while the Senate education committee approved its version, with only Democratic support. Senate Republicans introduced a bill that closely tracks with the House legislation. Use Education Week’s interactive analysis to explore the different proposals. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/13/13)
Higher Ed Leadership
Martha Kanter to Step Down as Education Department's Top Higher-Education Official
Martha Kanter, a former community college chancellor who became President Obama's top higher-education official four years ago, is leaving the Education Department this fall. Her departure comes as President Obama is promising to "shake up" higher-education, and as the department is preparing to reopen negotiations over its controversial "gainful employment" rule. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 08/13/13)
State Superintendent
Governor Names Dale Erquiaga as State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced that he has appointed Dale Erquiaga, a former Clark County School District government affairs director and longtime state government agency officer, as the state superintendent of public instruction. Erquiaga previously served as a senior advisor for Sandoval. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 08/13/13)
Tuesday, August 13
College Admissions
Admissions Mismatch
A majority of undergraduates are either "undermatching" or "overmatching" when they enroll in college—and the students themselves may be responsible for the choices being made, according to a new study. Many educators fear that undermatching leads highly talented low-income students away from the colleges with the best resources—and keeps those colleges less diverse than they might be. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/13/13)
Common Core/ELL Students
A Look at ELL Performance So Far on Common-Core-Aligned Tests
Student performance on New York's new Common Core aligned tests was weak across the board, but the results were particularly low for English-language learners. Only 3.2% of ELL students were proficient in English/language arts, while 9.8% were so in math. Last year, when the state tests were different, 11.7% of ELLs in grades 3-8 reached proficiency or higher in ELA, while 34.4% were proficient in math. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/09/13)
Early Learning Funding
Pre-K Program Attracts Investors Out for Returns
This fall, Goldman Sachs and another investment company, the Pritzker Group, will pay for the expansion of an early-childhood program in the 67,000-student Granite district in Utah through a social-impact bond, also known as a pay-for-success loan. The partnership aims to expand the school system's early-education program, save taxpayers money, and provide a financial return for investors. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/07/13)
Performance Funding
Mass. Ties Funding for Community Colleges to Results
Massachusetts has launched a new way of funding community colleges that will tie a large portion of each college’s budget to its ability to improve graduation rates, meet the state’s workforce needs, and help more minority students thrive. The state's move to performance funding is one of the most ambitious in the nation; about half of each school's allocation will hinge on such factors. (Boston Globe, 08/12/13)
School Safety
More Security Awaits Students Heading Back to School
More than 450 bills were introduced in statehouses this year on school security measures. What emerged are relatively small-scale plans to pay for security upgrades like adding classroom door locks that can be used from the inside and outside, fortifying school entrances, installing security cameras, and allowing teachers or volunteers, in very limited circumstances, to carry guns on campus. (Stateline.org, 08/12/13)
Monday, August 12
Charter Schools
New Orleans Charter Schools Show Progress with Students, Study Finds
New Orleans charter school students learn at a faster pace than their peers at conventional schools and faster than their peers at charters elsewhere in Louisiana, according to a new report. Statewide, a charter student had the equivalent of an extra 50 days of learning in reading, 65 more in math. In New Orleans, charter students on average had the equivalent of an extra 120 days in reading, 150 days in math. (New Orleans Picayune-Times, 08/08/13)
College Admissions
States Embracing Electronic High School Transcripts
Electronic transcript initiatives in several states could help give students control over submitting the documents to colleges. Kentucky recently unveiled a program that will allow students to send their transcripts electronically and monitor their delivery at no charge. One reason for the uptick in e-transcripts may be new state policies that require multiple measures to determine the level of college courses students will take, including GPA, says ECS’ Jennifer Dounay Zinth. (USA Today, 08/11/13)
Common Core
Wyoming Standardized Test Performance Declines in Every Grade, Subject
Standardized test performances for Wyoming elementary and middle school students declined in every subject and every grade level from 2012 numbers, according to new data. The slump in scoring on the tests is likely a result of the state's ongoing transition from the current set of learning standards to the Common Core standards, according to one official. (Casper Tribune, 08/08/13)
Community Colleges/BA Degrees
State College Bachelor Degrees Gaining Popularity
Florida’s community colleges are becoming an increasingly popular option for students looking to earn a low-cost bachelor's degree. They are expected to attract even more students over the next year once colleges begin offering complete four-year degrees for $10,000, about $3,000 below the current cost. Enrollment in Broward College's bachelor degree programs has surged from 111 in 2009 to 2,200 today. (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 08/10/13)
Early Literacy/Accountability
Utah Lawmakers Raise Reading Stakes for Elementary Schools
If for two consecutive years a Utah district fails to make strides toward the state’s goal of having 90% of 3rd-graders reading proficiently, then the district will lose money, under a new rule approved by the state education department. At stake is $30 million in reading-intervention funds used by districts. The rule is mandated by a new law to enhance an existing K-3 Reading Improvement Program. (Salt Lake Tribune, 08/10/13)
Friday, August 9
Common Core
States Train Teachers on Common Core
Twenty states are scheduled to implement the Common Core for the first time in the upcoming school year. Seven states and the District of Columbia already have implemented the English and math standards. Some states are playing a central role in preparing teachers for the new standards, while others are letting districts take the lead. Tennessee and North Carolina are two states that have set up teacher training programs. (Stateline.org, 08/08/13)
Common Core
Study: Many Teachers Need Common-Core Professional Development
Many teachers in states that have adopted the Common Core standards have not had any professional development to help them adjust to the new expectations, a Center on Education Policy study shows. Fewer than a dozen states reported that three-quarters or more of their teachers have received professional development. Twenty-two states said that better than half of their math and English teachers have participated in professional development. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/08/13)
Competency-based Ed
Competency-Based Transcripts
Students who enroll in a new competency-based program at Northern Arizona University will earn a second transcript, which will describe their proficiency in the online bachelor degree's required concepts. The university also will teach students how to share their "competency report" transcripts with potential employers. The transcript looks nothing like its traditional counterpart and lacks courses or grades. (Inside Higher Ed, 08/09/13)
Preschool Evaluations
Denver Preschool Program Graduates Outperform Peers, Study Finds
About 64% of 3rd graders who received tuition credits to attend the Denver Preschool Program scored proficient or advanced on the state reading test, compared with 58% of their peers, according to new analysis. White children continued to outperform minorities on the reading test but 3rd graders of all backgrounds did better than their peers if they participated in the program. (Denver Post, 08/07/13)
School Leadership
Standards Unveiled for Improving Principal Pipeline
As a way to help spark ideas for boosting the quality of school leadership in districts across the nation, the Wallace Foundation released the revised principal pipeline standards developed by its six grant-recipient districts. As states overhaul their teacher evaluation systems and implement the Common Core standards, strong school leadership becomes even more important, according to the report. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/06/13)
Thursday, August 8
Common Core
Report: States Make Headway in Aligning Curriculum to Common Core
A majority of states say they have already begun to teach a curriculum aligned with the Common Core standards in at least some districts or grade levels, a Center on Education Policy report shows. In fact, nine of the states say they began to implement a new math curriculum reflecting the standards across their entire K-12 system during the 2012-13 academic year or earlier, and 12 report the same for English. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/07/13)
Common Core
Tests Aligned to Common Core in New York State Trigger Score Drops
Test score results in New York, its first under tests aligned to the Common Core standards, show sharp declines in student performance in grades 3-8 for the 2012-13 school year. The statewide English proficiency rates dropped from 55.1% on the non-common-core exams from the 2011-12 school year, to 31.1% in the 2012-13 school year. In math, the proficiency rates declined from 64.8% to 31%. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/07/13)
Community College Completion
New Figures Suggest Community College Grad Rates Higher than Thought
A new report shows that of the estimated one in four students who start at community colleges and then move on to four-year institutions, more than 60% ultimately graduate. And another 8% are still enrolled. The data suggest that the proportion of community college students who successfully complete their educations is higher than the 18% the Department of Education calculates finish their two-year degrees within three years. (Hechinger Report, 08/06/13)
STEM Education
Left Behind in Science: Why Mississippi’s Children Lose Out on STEM Jobs
Only 10% of Mississippi’s high school graduates who go on to college earn a degree in STEM subjects. Yet within the next five years, an estimated 46,000 STEM-related jobs will become available in Mississippi. The state education department is offering grants to five districts to upgrade equipment and improve engineering courses and is helping schools expand offerings through its STEM job cluster program. (Hechinger Report, 08/05/13)
Wednesday, August 7
College Tuition
Sweeney Proposes Bill to Study Radically Different Tuition Model
New Jersey's Senate president and the House higher education committee chair will introduce a bill to establish a commission to study an idea called "Pay Forward, Pay Back." Under the plan, New Jersey public colleges could waive tuition and fees for students who pledge to give the state a portion of their salaries after graduation. Oregon enacted similar legislation to study the approach. (Newark Star-Ledger, 08/06/13)
Common Core Assessments
Wyoming to Get Say on New Common Core Tests
The Wyoming education department announced its new status as a voting member within the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which will give the state more say in the tests being developed for the Common Core. The tests for Wyoming students will include long- and short-answer items if the department can convince the legislature to change state statute limiting standardized tests to multiple-choice questions. (Casper Tribune, 08/08/13)
Education Workforce
State Launches New Education Jobs Website
A new website will make it easier for educators to find and apply for positions in Iowa. Hundreds of job openings have already been posted to TeachIowa.gov. The new education reform law requires schools and Area Education Agencies to list all vacancies on the website, which also includes job openings the state education department. (Des Moines Register, 08/06/13)
High School Diplomas
Education Head John White Says Diploma System Needs Re-evaluation
Louisiana needs to overhaul the way it prepares high school students for careers since four out of five students opt not to pursue a four-year college degree, State Superintendent John White said. He said one of the steps to boosting career education is for the state to drop its system of offering three different high school diplomas. The state board will make diploma recommendations next month. (Baton Rouge Advocate, 08/06/13)
NCLB Waivers
U.S. Department of Education Grants California Districts' CORE Waiver
The Department of Education announced an unprecedented No Child Left Behind waiver to eight California districts that together educate 1 million students. The waiver essentially allows the districts to set up their own accountability system outside of the state of California's—and largely police themselves through their own board of directors. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/06/13)
Tuesday, August 6
College Applications
eTranscript Introduced to Help Kentucky High School Seniors
Kentucky's high school seniors soon will be able to tap into an electronic system—Kentucky eTranscript—to send transcripts to colleges and universities for free, an offering aimed at easing the stress and expense of the application process. With the push of a button, the transcripts will be sent to any participating colleges or universities. The system is expected to be phased in statewide by March 2014. (KYpost.com, 07/30/13)
Early Learning Research
Pre-K Gains May Not Stick, Vanderbilt Study Finds
A new Vanderbilt University study found that preschool helps children succeed in school academically, but the effects may not last for long. Yet, researchers also found that students who attend preschool get promoted from kindergarten to 1st grade at twice the rate of peers who don’t and have better attendance records. The authors emphasized that further research is needed to follow the students through later grades. (Tennessean, 08/01/13)
School Funding
Colorado School Finance Reformers Deliver Double Required Signatures
Proponents of a $950 million initiative to revamp Colorado's school finance system delivered more than 160,000 signatures in an effort to put the measure on the November ballot. Initiative 22 would raise the money through a change in the state income tax structure. The measure would trigger a new way to determine state and local funding shares by taking into account differences in median income and at-risk students. (Denver Post, 08/05/13)
Tuition Tax Credits
Tax Dollars for Private School Tuition Gain in States
Thirteen states created or expanded tuition tax credits, private school scholarships, or traditional vouchers in 2013, and 15 states did so in 2012 or 2011. Some states have created tax credits for parents who pay private school tuition. Others are giving tax credits to those who donate to private scholarship funds that dole out money to families who need help paying for private school. See ECS' summary of tax credit policies. (Stateline.org, 08/06/13)
Workforce Training
Oklahoma's Mary Fallin to Focus on Jobs, Education as Head of Governors' Group
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin announced that improving education and workforce training systems will be her focus as chair of the National Governors Association. Her plan calls for supporting governors and their staff in using data to identify states' future labor demands, prioritize changes in state education and workforce training systems to meet those demands, and take action to achieve desired results. (Oklahoman, 08/05/13)
Monday, August 5
Accountability
A-to-F Systems for Grading Public Schools Get New Scrutiny
News that Tony Bennett, the former Indiana superintendent, altered the state grade for a charter school has raised questions about the validity of the A-to-F grading system used to assess schools in several states. In addition to Florida and Indiana, Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah use the system. Virginia and Ohio plan to implement the system in 2015. (Washington Post, 08/03/13)
AP Courses/Exams
Louisiana Students Earn Most Advanced Placement Credits in State's History
Louisiana officials announced that high school students earned the largest number of college credits on Advanced Placement exams and the biggest increase in the number of students taking the test. High schools now receive points for every student who takes an AP exam and the results are counted in School Performance Scores. To motivate students, a new law gives more weight to AP courses when calculating eligibility for state scholarships. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 07/30/13
Common Core
Pennsylvania Stays In Consortia, but Won't Use Tests
Pennsylvania has clarified that it will remain a member of PARCC and Smarter Balanced, but it will not use either consortium's assessments related to the Common Core. One official said that the state has decided to develop its own tests. But for the time being, it will maintain "participating" membership in the two consortia. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/02/13)
Education Funding
'Sequester' Impact Proves Tough to Track
As Congress shifts focus to next year's spending bills, education advocates are getting ready to renew their push against the funding cuts known as "sequestration." But the fallout from the cuts, which trimmed 5% from federal K-12 funding, is often hard to illustrate or quantify, even for seasoned number-crunchers. The sequestration cuts are hitting most districts at the start of this coming school year. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/02/13)
Kindergarten Funding
School Districts, State Balance Budget on Backs of Children: Cuts in Kindergarten
A spending controversy in Pennsylvania pivots on kindergarten, which the state does not require. So some districts, facing declining revenue and mandated costs, are choosing to reduce kindergarten to a half day or eliminate it altogether. Many districts used state aid to help pay for full-day kindergarten, but changes in leadership, declining revenue, and rising costs have compromised this funding. See ECS' summary of kindergarten policies. (Harrisburg Patriot-News, 08/04/13)
Friday, August 2
Common Core
Ohio Legislators Try to Repeal Common Core School Standards
Lawmakers introduced a last-minute bill, H.B. 237, which would repeal Ohio's adoption of Common Core standards, prohibit the state board from using assessments based on the standards, and outlaw any state entity that deals with education from collecting data on students except for limited administrative purposes. In 2010, Ohio was among the first states to adopt Common Core. (Columbus Dispatch, 08/01/13)
Early Learning Funding
Head Start Shake-Up Generates Few New Providers
The first competition for federal funds in Head Start's history was a sea change for the more than 120 grant recipients deemed low-performing that were asked to go through the process—but it didn't result in many new organizations entering the program. Only eight of the 153 agencies to come out of the recently completed competition with funding will be new to providing Head Start services this year. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 08/01/13)
Education Leadership
Amid Grading Controversy, Florida Education Chief Tony Bennett Resigns
Tony Bennett resigned as Florida education commissioner following two days of controversy over school grades in his home state of Indiana. His resignation could be a setback for Gov. Rick Scott and state education leaders, who are working to overhaul Florida's system of school accountability and assessment in compliance with the Common Core standards. (Miami Herald, 08/01/13)
Financial Aid/Performance
Report Warns Against Tying Student Aid to Measures Like Graduation Rates
Awarding student financial aid to colleges based on outcome measures, like graduation rates, could harm low-income students and the colleges that serve them, according to an Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance analysis. The report found that colleges with more Pell recipients and fewer resources tend to have lower graduation rates, with low test scores amplifying the effect. Also see the Inside Higher Ed article. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 08/01/13)
Financial Aid/Performance
States Offer Students an Incentive to Graduate: Money
Every year states hand out more than $11 billion in financial aid to college students with no certainty as to whether they’ll ever graduate. But early results from a handful of states' pilot projects show that connecting financial aid with meeting certain benchmarks has increased the number of credits earned and the proportion of students who stay in school. (Hechinger Report, 07/30/13)
Thursday, August 1
Dual Credit Courses
Madison County High Schools Add Courses for College Credit
The number of dual enrollment/dual credit students in Mississippi rose from 1,869 in 2010 to 2,066 in 2011. Seniors, who pay tuition, can earn credit hours for English Composition 1 and 2 and the high school's English 4. Convenience, cost, and the head start on college have contributed to growth in participation. The program differs from dual enrollment where students attend classes at a community college and earn college credits only. (Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 07/3
Financial Aid
Bill to Lower Student Loan Rates Heads to Obama
A bipartisan bill that would lower the costs of borrowing for millions of students is awaiting President Barack Obama's signature. The House gave final approval to legislation that links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. The bill would offer lower rates for most students now but higher rates down the line if the economy improves as expected. (Boston Globe, 08/01/13)
School Vouchers
Nearly 50 Private Schools Seek to Join Wisconsin's Voucher Program
Almost 50 private and religious schools and school systems in Wisconsin have registered to join a new voucher program that would allow them to educate students on taxpayer dollars this fall. Because of a 500-student enrollment cap on the statewide voucher program in its first year, only about half of those schools will be able to participate. See previous story on the new voucher program. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 07/31/13)
Teacher Recruitment/Training
Walton Expands TFA Grants with $20M More
The Walton Family Foundation, already the largest single donor to Teach For America, has committed an additional $20 million to recruit, train, and place an additional 4,000 corps members. The new investment brings its financial support of TFA to about $95 million in all. The money will support eight districts and the District of Columbia. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/31/13)
Undocumented Students/Tuition
Ohio's Public Colleges Must Offer In-state Tuition to Undocumented Immigrants with Temporary Legal Status, Regents Say
Ohio's public colleges must charge in-state tuition to young residents who are undocumented immigrants with temporary legal status, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor John Carey has ruled. Most of the state's two- and four-year schools have treated such students as out-of-state or international students, charging more than double the tuition paid by Ohio residents. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 07/30/13)
Wednesday, July 31
District Reforms/Leadership
Chief Innovation Officers Make Their Way into Schools
Chief innovation officers are slowly popping up in districts around the country. Some say they fill a gap in leadership that's preventing education from moving forward. Large urban school systems including Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee have created this position. The officers might provide visionary leadership, assist with communications, or help prepare students for college. (Governing, 07/29/13)
Early Learning Leadership
Education Department Picks New Leader for Early-Learning Office
Libby Doggett, most recently the director of the home visiting initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts, has been named the head of the Department of Education's office of early learning. Doggett is expected to help oversee the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant program and promote the administration's proposal to distribute $75 billion to the states to bolster high-quality preschool programs. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/30/13)
Early Warning/Dropouts
Dropout Indicators Found for 1st Graders
As tracking data on students grow more extensive, some Maryland educators are finding that the early-warning signs of a student at risk of dropping out may become visible at the very start of their school careers. The Montgomery County district is building one of the first early-warning systems in the country that can identify red flags for 75% of future dropouts as early as the second semester of 1st grade. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/29/13)
Higher Ed Inequities
Higher Ed: Engine of Inequity
A Georgetown University report concludes that African-American and Latino students—especially from low-income backgrounds—are underrepresented at the most selective four-year colleges and overrepresented at open-access two- and four-year institutions. The authors also found that the situation worsened from 1994 to 2009, leading them to suggest that higher education is reinforcing socio-economic and racial inequities. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/31/13)
Race to the Top
U.S. Dept. of Ed. Plans to Withhold Part of Georgia's Race to Top Grant
The Department of Education plans to take the unprecedented step of withholding part of Georgia's Race to the Top grant over problems the state is having implementing its teacher-evaluation plans. Federal officials plan to withhold $9.9 million by the beginning of the school year that the state had planned to spend on a performance-based compensation system, a promise it made when applying for the grant. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/30/13)
Tuesday, July 30
Common Core
PARCC Proclaims Strong State Commitment Despite State Withdrawals
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) officials announced that 14 states and the District of Columbia have committed to field-testing their Common Core assessments in the spring of 2014. Five PARCC states—Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Oklahoma—have not reached that level of commitment. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/29/13)
Common Core
Pence Withdraws Indiana from New Multi-state Test, Commits to ISTEP+
Indiana will continue designing and managing the standardized tests administered to students after Gov. Mike Pence announced that the state intends to withdraw from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which is developing assessments for the Common Core standards. Lawmakers previously approved legislation "pausing" the state's Common Core implementation. (Northwest Times, 07/29/13)
Early Learning Funding
Three States Get Race to Top Early-Learning Boost
Colorado, New Mexico, and Wisconsin—winners in the Department of Education's second round of the Race to the Top early-learning competition—are getting some additional cash, the states announced. The department is planning to hold another round of the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge competition this year. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/26/13)
School Choice
More Florida Parents Using State Scholarships to Send Children to Private Schools
The number of Florida students attending private schools on tax-credit scholarships jumped 27% last year, reaching a record high of 51,075 kids, according to the state education department. The dramatic spike was the result of 2012 legislation increasing the amount of tax credits available. The bill prompted corporations to donate more money. There also was a surge in parent demand. (Miami Herald, 07/29/13)
Teacher Tenure
North Carolina Ends Teacher Tenure
North Carolina became the latest state to overhaul its teacher tenure rules, directing school administrators to offer four-year contracts to top performers but one- or two-year contracts to everybody else. Longer-term job security will be limited to the 25% of teachers who are ranked most effective. ECS' Kathy Christie offered examples of states that have made changes to tenure laws. Check ECS' tenure brief and policy database. Note: Idaho voters repealed the state's tenure reforms in 2012. (Stateline.org, 07/30/13)
Monday, July 29
Charter Schools
Charter Schools Multiplying in Mich. as More Families Opt Out of Public School
While enrollment in traditional public schools has fallen in Michigan over the past two decades, charter school enrollment has increased more than 500% since the first school opened in the mid-1990s. More than 130,000 children attended 277 charter schools this past year. Despite their popularity, charters continue to spark debate among educators, advocacy groups, and lawmakers. (Detroit News, 07/26/13)
Early Graduation
Early High School Graduation Programs Gain Traction
Fewer than 3% of students graduate high school early, according to a 2004 National Center for Education Statistics report. About half of states have policies that allow the practice, according to ECS' Jennifer Dounay Zinth. Advocates of the programs say they help reduce state spending and can give students a jump-start on college and their careers. See an ECS brief on early graduation. (USA Today, 07/27/13)
Faculty Merit Pay
Nevada Community Colleges Embrace Merit Pay
Nevada's community colleges will throw out their existing framework for awarding employee raises based on education and experience, replacing it with a merit pay system. Next year both two- and four-year institutions will use merit pay systems. Community colleges will have to develop their new pay systems and determine how officials will measure performance. Four-years have used merit pay in the past. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 07/27/13)
Low-performing Schools
With 'Parent Trigger' Laws on the Ropes, Three Overhauled Schools Reopen in Los Angeles
When classes resume in Southern California in coming weeks, three public schools will be the first in the nation to reopen under new management spurred by the "parent trigger" law. Only seven states have parent trigger laws on the books, with some versions weaker than others. In 20 states, bills to create or expand such laws stalled or died in legislatures this past session. Just one bill became law in Louisiana. (Hechinger Report, 07/26/13)
Veterans Education
Follow the Money
Nearly 1 million student veterans used $10.9 billion in education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs to attend college in 2011, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill accounted for $8.5 billion of all such payments. The return on investment for those benefits has become a hot topic in Congress, especially for how for-profits recruit and serve student veterans. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/26/13)
Friday, July 26
College Remediation
States Reform College Remedial Education
Several states are pursuing reforms to address remedial education students' lack of success. Some states are demanding that colleges provide extra help to students as they take regular classes for credit. A new Florida law will allow many students to skip developmental classes and enroll in college-level courses. Critics are concerned that scaling back remedial education could leave some students unprepared. Check out ECS' work to identify remedial reforms. (Stateline.org, 07/25/13)
Common Core
Teachers Hit the Books to Master New Education Standards
The Common Core will soon apply to most of America's students, and policymakers behind the standards know that teachers will need help to make the change. Maryland has been hosting summer "academies" to do just that. Teachers are being taught new best practices to ensure that their students are ready for the standards and related tests. (National Public Radio, 07/23/14)
Educational Research/NAEP
When Bad Things Happen to Good NAEP Data
Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) frequently are pressed into service to bolster claims about the effect that policies—from test-based accountability and collective bargaining to specific reading and math interventions—have had on student achievement. While those assertions are compelling and possibly correct, they also are mostly speculative, researchers say. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/24/13)
Poverty and Education
ETS Explores the Link Between Poverty and Education
To change the life trajectory of low-income children, more attention must be given to crafting policies that increase their likelihood for academic success, according to an Educational Testing Service report. The report offers recommendations to improve their educational outcomes, such as raising the quality of the teacher workforce and reducing isolation and segregation along racial, ethnic, and income lines. (Diverse Issues in Education, 07/24/13)
Summer School
Iowa Embraces New School of Thought for 'Summer School'
An increased focus on student achievement, paired with tougher academic standards, is changing the way Iowa schools and communities shape summer programs offered to children. On a national level, schools are moving away from the "old, punitive" model of remedial summer classes. Instead, summer months are used to build on skills students learned during the academic year. (Des Moines Register, 07/26/13)
Thursday, July 25
Common Core Assessments
States Ponder Costs of Common Tests
With the news that PARCC tests will cost $29.50 per student, all states in the two common-assessment consortia have estimates of what the tests will cost. And they're sorting out how—and whether—to proceed with the projects. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has two pricing levels: $22.50 for the basic system of summative math and literacy tests, or $27.30 for a complete system that includes formative and interim tests. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/23/13)
Early Learning Research
Early-Childhood Education, Intervention Are Focus of New Report
The results of dozens of research studies in early intervention and early-childhood education have been synthesized in a new report released by the federally funded Institute of Education Sciences. Some of the instructional methods that have been connected to positive gains for students are nevertheless used infrequently, researchers have found. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/23/13)
Higher Ed Governance
National Commission Will Review How Colleges Are Governed, Recommend Changes
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges announced the formation of a national commission to review how schools are governed and make recommendations for change. Former Tennessee Governor Philip N. Bredesen Jr. will lead the commission, which will be made up of college presidents and board members, business leaders, faculty representatives, association leaders, and experts. (Washington Post, 07/24/13)
Higher Ed Reforms
'Shake Up' for Higher Ed
In a speech on the economy, President Obama vowed that he would soon unveil a plan to promote significant reform in higher education—with an emphasis on controlling college costs. The president spoke forcefully about higher education and the need for new ways of doing business. The president noted efforts to increase student aid and solve the dispute over student loan interest rates, but said such efforts were inadequate. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/25/13)
School Calendars
New R.I. Law Allows School Districts to Restructure Their Schedules
A new law allows Rhode Island districts to create flexible schedules, although they are required to meet the minimum 5.5-hour school day required by the state. A number of states, including Delaware, Idaho, Montana, and Missouri, have abandoned the minimum school day requirement in favor of an established number of hours per grade level. Check out ECS’ summary of required instructional time.
(Providence Journal, 07/24/13)
Student Discipline
Maryland's New Approach to Student Discipline Moves Closer to Approval
The Maryland state board gave preliminary approval to proposed school discipline regulations that aim to scale back on suspensions, keep students in class, reduce racial disparities in punishment, and take a more positive approach to behavior issues. School board policies would have to blend goals of safety and order with a focus on positive behavior and a move away from zero-tolerance punishments. (Washington Post, 07/23/13)
Wednesday, July 24
Assessments
Texas Seeks Waiver from Feds on Test Exemptions
Texas education officials are awaiting word from the U.S. Department of Education on their plan to reduce the number of tests high-performing elementary and middle school students must take. House Bill 866 would exempt 3rd and 5th graders who achieve a minimum-scale score on reading and math tests from being required to take those tests again in the 4th, 6th, and 7th grades. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/22/13)
College Costs
Grants, Scholarships Key to Paying for College
Grants and scholarships are taking a lead role in paying college bills, surpassing the role parents long have played in helping foot the bills, according to a Sallie Mae report. Since the recession, more college-bound students have eliminated schools based on costs and have relied less on their parents once they get to campus. College spending per student was $21,000 during 2012, down from a peak of $24,000 in 2010. (Boston Globe, 07/23/13)
Common Core
Survey Finds State Officials Confident in Common Core
A Center on Education Policy survey of state education officials finds that most see little chance the Common Core standards will be "reversed, limited, or changed in some way" in their states during 2013-14, and it downplays the threat posed by state-level opposition to the standards. Of the 29 responding from states with NCLB waivers, 22 said the waivers were helping them implement the Common Core. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/24/13)
Early Literacy/Retention
Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmetic ... Retention? Third-graders Face New Reading Standard
Arizona children entering 3rd grade this year are the first who will have to prove that they can read at an acceptable level or face being held back. The state education department estimates that the new law will force about 1,500 children to repeat 3rd grade next year. Arizona is one of 15 states, along with the District of Columbia, that has passed reading-retention measures for 3rd graders, according an ECS report. (Cronkite News, 07/23/13)
Teacher Evaluations
'Pay for Performance' Not Recommended in Michigan Teacher Evaluation Group's Report
Michigan teachers need a strong system for evaluating their performance, but those results should not be used to determine pay, according to the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness report. The report recommends that the state create and implement an evaluation requirement for teachers and administrators based on direct observation of performance as well as student growth. (Mlive.com, 07/24/13)
Tuesday, July 23
College Readiness
Colleges Strengthen Their K-12 Partnerships
Community colleges have long recognized the benefit of reaching out to high schools as a way of ensuring incoming students are ready for college-level work. While dual enrollment and early college initiatives are becoming increasingly common ways to do this, some colleges are taking such initiatives a step further by combining a "fifth year"
of high school with the freshman year of college. (Community College Times, 07/18/13)
Common Core Assessments
Georgia Decides Against Offering 'Common Core' Standardized Test
Gov. Nathan Deal and Superintendent John Barge announced that Georgia will not offer a new test tied to the Common Core standards being designed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC. They cited its cost as the main reason, which could be more than the entire K-12 testing budget. Georgia will develop its own assessments, possibly in collaboration with other states. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 07/22/13)
Common Core Assessments
PARCC Test Cost: Higher for Nearly Half the States
The Common Core tests by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, will cost member states $29.50 per student, more than what half the states currently pay for their tests, according to new estimates. The cost of tests by PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium are a topic of intense interest as states try to decide their testing plans for 2014-15. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/22/13)
Corrections Education
Educating Utah Prison Inmates Pays Off, Study Says
Utah sees a more than 13-to-1 return on investment when inmates complete vocational secondary education in prison and gain employment afterward, according to a University of Utah study by the state's Department of Corrections. The study showed an 18% reduction in recidivism in former inmates who completed a corrections education and 38% in those who also gained employment. (Deseret News, 07/21/13)
Higher Ed Accountability
Should University Systems Be Graded, Too?
In June, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study on whether it would be possible to test what students around the world actually learn in colleges and universities. In November, the organization will decide whether to press ahead with the new system, Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes, or AHELO. (New York Times, 07/21/13)
Monday, July 22
College Remediation
Free Courses for a Big Problem
A handful of community colleges may have found a way to dial up open-source content to help tackle remedial education. The colleges have created their own online content, sometimes tapping free lectures from the Khan Academy or other sources. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded grants to 10 institutions to experiment with massive open online courses, or MOOCs, for remedial and introductory courses. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/19/13)
Higher Ed Performance
Assessment: It's the Law
Under legislation passed in 2012, faculty members at Iowa's three public universities must create and use "formative and summative assessments" and submit a plan for using those assessments to improve student learning. The continuous improvement provisions also are part of Board of Regents' strategic plan. The board will report back to the legislature. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/19/13)
NCLB Reauthorization
House GOP Passes Education Bill to Reverse No Child Left Behind
House Republicans passed a bill to reduce the federal role in public education and cede back to states decisions about how to deal with failing schools, how and whether to evaluate teachers, and how to spend much of the money sent by Washington to educate poor, disabled, and non-English-speaking students. The legislation would retain No Child Left Behind testing requirements, but states would set academic standards. The bill forbids the Education Department from using waivers or grants to influence state education policy. (Washington Post, 07/19/13)
Teaching Standards
Vermont Raising Standards for Primary School Teachers
Vermont education officials are embarking on a process to rewrite and raise standards for elementary school teachers. A significant part of the focus in the new standards would be on making sure educators are prepared to teach children strong math and science skills. The new teacher standards also would call for an emphasis on integrating various subjects. (Burlington Free Press, 07/20/13)
Tuition/Undocumented Students
University Of Michigan Approves In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students
The University of Michigan voted to let immigrants living in the country illegally pay lower, in-state tuition. The University of Texas and the University of California also allow students to qualify for in-state tuition if they went to state high schools regardless of citizenship status. The proposal allows members of the military to receive in-state tuition, regardless of where they live. (Huffington Post, 07/18/13)
Friday, July 19
College Exams/Enrollment
ACT Report Reveals Enrollment Trends for Test Takers
A new ACT, Inc., report gives a snapshot of what students are doing after they take the college entrance exam. For example, students with higher ACT scores are more likely to attend a college farther from their homes than those with lower scores, and more ACT test-takers head to public four-year colleges than other types of schools. ACT offers several recommendations in response to the findings. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/18/13)
Common Core
Michigan Lawmakers Start Hearings on Common Core Standards
A Michigan House subcommittee took testimony during the first of several hearings to revisit the state education board's decision to adopt the Common Core standards. Lawmakers blocked state funding for the standards in the budget that starts October 1. The legislature has to act before then if Michigan is to keep implementing the standards along with companion assessments. Indiana lawmakers will hold hearings on similar issues. (Lansing State Journal, 07/16/13)
Financial Aid
Senators Introduce Bill Addressing Student-Loan Interest Rates
A group of eight senators introduced the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act that retroactively would lower interest rates for students taking out loans after July 1. The legislation would cover federal loans for all student borrowers. It would set rates to that of the 10-year Treasury note, and undergraduates would pay an interest rate of 3.85%. The rates would be allowed to increase, but limits would be set. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/18/13)
Science Education
Virginia Elementary School Teachers Attending Summer Science Learning Program
Secretary of Education Laura Fornash will be joined by state lawmakers at the Virginia Commonwealth University, where more than 40 elementary school teachers are learning how to improve science instruction at a four-week institute. The program is part of the Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement. Nearly 130 teachers are participating in such programs. (Washington Post, 07/18/13)
Teacher Layoffs
CPS Lays Off More than 2,000, Including 1,000 Teachers
Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than 1,000 of them teachers. The latest layoffs are in addition to 855 employees—including 420 teachers—who were laid off last month as a result of the district's decision to close schools. The district blamed the lack of statewide pension reform for many of its fiscal woes. (Chicago Tribune, 07/18/13)
Thursday, July 18
College Readiness
Too Few Students Going to College in Delaware, Study Finds
Not enough of Delaware’s students are graduating from college and there are big differences in how well high schools are preparing students, according to a new study. High schools are increasing the number of freshmen who are on-track to graduate, but there is a wide spread between how different groups of students perform. The study focused on where and when high school students get “off track.” (Wilmington News Journal, 07/17/13)
Common Core
Why the Common Core Rebellion Fell Short
Lawmakers in eight states introduced legislation this year to opt out of the Common Core State Standards, according to an Education Week summary. But only Indiana and Michigan passed a bill, and those bills were scaled back to only halt funding for implementation and require further study of the standards. After a backlash against Common Core this spring, the actual policy changes were minimal. (Governing, 07/18/13)
Common Core Assessments
North Dakota Drops Out of PARCC, Commits to Smarter Balanced
North Dakota was the last remaining state that belonged to both PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium for the Common Core assessments. State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced that North Dakota will become a governing state in Smarter Balanced, which means it now has voting power, but also commits to using the consortia’s tests and withdrawal from PARCC. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/17/13)
Online Courses
No-Bid MOOCs
The providers of massive open online courses have rapidly expanded in the past year, aided in part by a series of no-bid deals with public colleges and universities, including for services that may extend beyond the MOOC model. At least 21 universities and higher education systems in 16 states have signed agreements with Coursera, Udacity, or edX without going through a competitive bidding process. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/17/13)
Student Debt
Federal Student Loan Debt Reaches $1 Trillion
The cumulative amount of federal student loan debt held by borrowers has crossed $1 trillion for the first time, according to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The statement put the total amount of all student loan debt (including private loans) at $1.2 trillion, with the amount that the federal government either holds or guarantees topping $1 trillion. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/18/13)
Wednesday, July 17
Accountability
Another Reprieve for School Grades as Officials Question Validity
Many Florida schools that struggle under the state's A through F grading system will again get a reprieve this year after the state board agreed to keep rankings from dropping more than one letter, regardless of performance. Board members voted to reinstate a "safety net" in response to concerns that a slew of changes made to raise education standards threatened instead to unfairly punish schools. (Miami Herald, 07/16/13)
College Transitions
Why Poor Students' College Plans 'Melt' Over the Summer
A large number of poor high school students who say they are continuing on to college fail to show up in the fall. The reason is referred to as the "summer melt." Students face many hurdles, including lack of resources and mentors. A Harvard study found that upward of 20% of recent high school graduates who indicate that they will continue on to college do not show up in the fall. . (National Public Radio, 07/16/13)
School Governance
Prince George's County Tests New School Governance Structure
Prince George's County in Maryland became the first county in the nation to provide the chief executive authority to appoint a superintendent, power that was approved by the state legislature with the intent of better aligning the work of the district and the county. The county council also was given authority to appoint one school board member. (Governing, 07/17/13)
Science Standards
Common Science Standards Get Thumbs Up from Wash. State Board
The Washington state board of education voted to recommend adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. The final decision rests with state Superintendent Randy Dorn, who has signaled strong support for the standards but has yet to take formal action. Five other states have adopted the standards, including Rhode Island, Kansas, Kentucky, and Maryland. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/16/13)
Student Demographics/Achievement
Demographic Change Amplifies Importance of Academic Achievement
As the numbers of minority children entering the nation's schools grow, experts say that helping them achieve greater academic success will be crucial to future U.S. economic competitiveness. The demographic trends raise concerns given the overrepresentation of minority children in low-income neighborhoods and low-performing schools. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/15/13)
Tuesday, July 16
Condition of Children
Young Children's Well-Being Is Rising, Federal Indicators Suggest
Children who experienced at least some early child care beyond their parents or relatives performed better in reading and math in kindergarten than those who were cared for only by relatives, according to a new federal data. The report includes a special section on kindergartners’ achievement. The analysis is the latest of 16 annual reports which summarizes the well-being of children and their families. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/12/13)
Differential Tuition
Differential Tuition Impact
When public universities impose higher tuition rates on some academic programs, students are discouraged to enroll in some fields, according to a new study. Enrollments in engineering, business, and nursing programs declined slightly. Enrollment decisions of female and minority students are more likely to be negatively influenced by higher tuition rates for programs than are white men. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/15/13)
Financial Aid
Stretching State Aid
An annual report on state-funded financial aid shows that about one-fifth of the awards are based on both financial need and merit. Several states are incorporating performance metrics into their financial aid formulas. Colorado and Indiana, for example, recently approved programs that award money to students based on need, but increase awards based on completion of certain credit thresholds. ECS' Matt Gianneschi commented on Colorado's program. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/15/13)
Financial Literacy
Financial Education: Does Your State Make the Grade?
The Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College has graded all 50 states on their efforts to teach the ABCs of financial literacy to high school students. The assessments are based primarily on published reports covering state-by-state measures, along with reviews of state legislation going back for more than a decade. (CNN.com, 07/11/13)
Teacher Licensure
TN Seeks to Toughen Standards on Teacher Licensing
Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman presented a plan that would make it tougher for teachers to get and keep licenses by demanding higher scores on initial licensing tests and then requiring more frequent renewals, which would be based in part on evaluations of their teaching effectiveness. Only six other states are known to have discussed or adopted similar changes to licensing. (Tennessean, 07/16/13)
Monday, July 15
Associate Degrees
Earning Associate Degree Before Transferring to 4-Year College Has Advantage
A new the Community College Research Center study underscores the value of getting an associate degree, rather than just attending a community college, before transferring to a four-year university. It can increase the likelihood of completing a bachelor's degree, save students money, and improve their earnings compared with that of earlier transfers. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/11/13)
District Mergers
2nd Key Vote in Suburbs Adds to Uncertainty Surrounding New Merged School District in Memphis
More than two years of legal fighting, political acrimony, and parental anxiety are culminating in a massive merger of the Memphis and suburban Shelby County districts in Tennessee, but a key vote could change the landscape of the new system after just one year. Suburbs of the Shelby County district want to avoid the merger with the low-performing Memphis district. Experts call it one of the largest U.S. school consolidations in recent history. (Washington Post, 07/15/13)
Online Courses/Dropout Recovery
SC Law Expanding Students' Online Course Offerings
A new law, H.B. 3752, allows South Carolina's virtual education program to expand opportunities for middle- and high-school students statewide. Students had been limited to three credit hours yearly and 12 total toward a high school diploma, but the law removes the caps. While the increasingly popular program offered advanced courses, its primary focus has been credit recovery, giving students who failed a course needed for a diploma another chance to pass. (Herald Online.com, 07/10/13)
Postsecondary Accountability
North Carolina Community Colleges Unveil New Gauges of Performance
The North Carolina Community College System unveiled its Performance Measures for Student Success, detailing how its 58 campuses are performing in their students' GED-passage rates, graduation rates, transfer success, and five other areas. The gauges will now be tied to about $30-million in appropriations by the legislature for the 2013-14 fiscal year. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 07/11/13)
Teacher Preparation
Getting Teachers Ready to Teach
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell recently signed S.B. 51, which requires teacher preparation programs to include at least 10 weeks of full-time student teaching and to collect and report data on the performance and effectiveness of their graduates. Other states have approved similar measures to improve teacher preparation, and Massachusetts and Minnesota have long reputations for making sure teachers are well-prepared to teach. (Stateline.org, 07/15/13)
Friday, July 12
Career and Tech Ed
Report Sees Strengths and Failings in America's Career and Tech Education
Career- and technical-education programs offered by employers and colleges in the United States are diverse and decentralized, and those traits are both their strength and their failing, according to an OECD report. One concern is that program accountability is "relatively weak and fragmented," especially given that in 2008 an estimated $68 billion in public and personal funds were spent on such training. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 07/11/13)
Compulsory Attendance
Kentucky School Dropout Age Will Increase to 18 in 2017
The dropout age in Kentucky will rise from 16 to 18 starting in the fall of 2017, after dozens of school boards opted in recent weeks to adopt the change. Ninety-six of the state's 173 school boards have raised the dropout age—meaning the state had reached the 55% threshold, triggering a requirement that all other districts follow suit under a law passed earlier this year. See ECS' summary of attendance policies. (Louisville Courier-Journal, 07/10/13)
Higher Ed Leadership
Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Chief, to Head UC
The University of California system announced that Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic. Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history. (Los Angeles Times, 07/12/13)
School Choice
Open Enrollment in Districts: Choices and Consequences
While open enrollment policies are growing increasingly popular, states must refine their policies to ensure that options are truly available to the students they're intended to help, according to a new paper by ECS. Studies have found that in some cities, high-income students are most likely to take advantage of open enrollment options. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/11/13)
Teacher Preparation
Tougher Requirements Ahead for Teacher Prep
A panel tapped by the national accreditation body for teacher preparation has finalized a set of standards that, for the first time, establishes minimum admissions criteria and requires programs to use much-debated "value added" measures, where available. The action promises to have major ramifications for how programs select, prepare, and gauge the success of new teachers. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/10/13)
Workforce Needs
N.M. Needs 183,000 New Workers by 2020
New Mexico is expected to have 335,000 new job openings in 2020 but only 152,000 workers with the job skills and education required to fill them, according to a recent report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. The United States should create 55 million new job openings but will be short 5 million workers to fill them, the center reported. (Hispanic Business 7/11/13)
Thursday, July 11
Common Core/Teacher Evaluations
State to Seek Flexibility for Rollout of Teacher Evaluations, Common Core
Connecticut officials are seeking flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education to avoid double-testing students during the roll-out of the Common Core State Standards. If granted, districts will be able to choose between a new test or the old state standardized test. State officials said they also will seek flexibility on new teacher evaluations that link student test scores to teacher ratings. (Connecticut Mirror, 07/10/13)
NAEP Results/Common Core
Education Trust: Michigan Has Poor Track Record with Low-income and Black Students
An Education Trust report examines student performance and the rate of improvement on eight years of NAEP test scores to determine how states are performing compared to national averages in advance of the Common Core tests. Oklahoma, Oregon, and West Virginia had the worst track records overall in the assessment, while Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey topped the rankings. (Mlive.com, 07/10/13)
Pre-K Funding
Public-private Funding Expands Vermont Pre-K Offerings
Gov. Peter Shumlin announced a program through which $400,000 in state money, paired with $400,000 raised privately by the Vermont Community Preschool Collaborative, will go to the 12 communities to expand early learning offerings. Legislation that passed the House would have expanded public funding of preschool, but the bill was left pending in the Senate in the final days of the session. (Burlington Free Press, 07/10/13)
Postsecondary Accountability
New Yardstick of Quality
Eighteen institutions are trying to get ahead of the growing accountability push with the release of a new set of performance measures. The Voluntary Institutional Metrics Project seeks to give a holistic view of the performance of private nonprofits, for-profits, community colleges, online institutions, and one research university. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/10/13)
Student Data Systems
Nebraska Joins States Trying to Link Student Data Systems
Nebraska joined 13 other states that are part of the Ed-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. The alliance aims to create an automated, one-stop shop for teachers, principals, and others looking for information on students' test scores, attendance patterns, class rosters, and more to adjust their instruction in order to meet individual students' needs. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/09/13)
Wednesday, July 10
Online Learning
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam Launches Online College
Gov. Bill Haslam says the new online "competency-based" university he's launching with a nonprofit higher education facility will help boost working Tennesseans' access to low-cost college. The governor joined with Western Governors University President Robert Mendenhall and signed a memorandum of understanding that creates WGU Tennessee. Some 800,000 adult Tennesseans have completed some college but have no degrees, Haslam said, and WGU Tennessee will be there to offer lower-cost, high-quality education. Western Governors University was created in 1997 as a nonprofit entity by governors in several Western states. The program has grown to about 35,000 students nationwide, including 700 in Tennessee. (Times Free Press, 7/10/13)
School Finance
Bill to Let Schools Skip Voters to Use Funds Fails
Cities and towns will have to ask for voter approval if they redo their school district's budgets to spend unexpected state funds after the measure failed in the Maine Legislature. With the late passage of the $6.3 billion state budget, many school districts will get more money than they originally thought. But current law says schools cannot use that extra money unless residents vote on a new school budget. (Boston Globe, 7/09/13)
School Bus Safety
Indiana School Bus Inspections to Be Posted Online
Indiana State Police are posting results for school bus inspections online. The results show inspections for individual buses, as well as how many buses were inspected in each school district and how many passed inspection. State police say all buses are inspected annually. Buses 12 model years or older are inspected twice a year. (Indianapolis Star, 7/10/13)
Science Standards (Next Generation)
California to Weigh Science Standards Stressing Experimentation
California schoolchildren would study fewer concepts more deeply and emphasize hands-on investigation over rote memorization of facts under new science standards set for consideration by the state Board of Education. The proposed benchmarks are based on the Next Generation Science Standards, which were unveiled in April by California and 25 others states in the first national effort since 1996 to transform the way science is taught. The standards delve more thoroughly into such often controversial topics as climate change and the impact of genetic engineering on food and medicine. (Los Angeles Times, 7/09/13)
State Takeovers
State Control of Newark Schools Upheld by Panel of Appellate Court Judges
Newark public schools have been controlled by the state for nearly 20 years, and the monitoring will continue until Trenton deems the large urban district ready for autonomy, a panel of state appellate court judges has ruled. In a sharply worded decision, the judges said Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf appropriately exercised "broad discretion" in 2011 when he determined Newark was not yet ready to govern its school system—the largest in the state with nearly 40,000 students. (Newark Star Ledger, 7/09/13)
Student Debt
Senate Back at Student Loans as Pressure and Rates Mount, but Deal Elusive
Back from its one-week July 4 recess, the Senate is zeroing in on student loans, poised to take up bills addressing the interest rates on subsidized federal loans after a key rate doubled last week. After Congress refused to act last month, the rate borrowers pay on subsidized Stafford loans—which make up about 40% of federal education loans—doubled from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1. (Christian Science Monitor, 7/10/13)
Tuesday, July 9
Common Core Assessment
Ed. Dept. Panel Says Test Consortia Need Sharper Focus on Accessibility
A technical review panel set up by the U.S. Department of Education is urging both Common Core assessment consortia to pay better attention to ensuring that their tests are accessible to students with disabilities and those whose native language is not English. That is one of the more stern outcomes of the panel's first appraisal of the work so far of PARCC and Smarter Balanced. The review panel, created in March, issued its reports on July 3. You can read them on a special page of the department's website. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/08/13)
Postsecondary Accountability
UMass to Rate Its Performance in Simpler Way
University of Massachusetts president Robert L. Caret, setting aside widespread qualms on individual campuses, has developed a list of performance goals that will be used to essentially grade the system, an effort to show that public money is being well spent and to spur healthier graduation rates and economic activity. (Boston Globe, 07/08/13)
School Safety
Does your school have a safe room?
Few Iowa schools are equipped with a structure deemed by the federal government to provide "near-absolute protection" in a tornado. Thirty-seven of Iowa's 1,400 public school buildings include safe rooms, with most built in the past five years, state data show. The buildings provide 6% of Iowa's preschool-through-12th-grade students access to safe rooms during the school day. (Des Moines Register, 7/08/13)
School Safety
Quinn signs bill requiring schools to hold shooting safety drills
Local school districts will now be required to conduct safety drills to prepare for a possible shooting under legislation Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law. The measure, which took effect immediately, will require schools to partner with local law enforcement agencies to develop and conduct a shooting drill at least once a school year. It's up to each school whether students must be present for the exercise, and parents can choose to have their children sit out.(Chicago Tribune, 07/01/13)
School Safety
Schools Seeking to Arm Employees Hit Hurdle on Insurance
As more schools consider arming their employees, some districts are encountering a daunting economic hurdle: insurance carriers threatening to raise their premiums or revoke coverage entirely. During legislative sessions this year, seven states enacted laws permitting teachers or administrators to carry guns in schools. Three of the measures—in Kansas, South Dakota, and Tennessee—took effect in July. (New York Times, 07/07/13)
Teacher Compensation
New TN Teacher Pay Plan Is Hybrid of Other States' Plans
With the recent adoption of a controversial teacher pay plan, Tennessee has moved closer to three states that have carved out reputations for dramatically overhauling their pay policies. Florida, Indiana, and Louisiana have implemented pay plans in recent years that give more weight to performance and less to the number of degrees racked up by teachers. Though Tennessee's plan doesn’t go quite as far—some states have actually stopped tying pay to higher degrees altogether—districts here must now consider new factors other than experience and advanced degrees when they create pay scales for the 2014-15 school year. (Tennessean, 07/07/13)
Monday, July 8
College Completion Gaps
Study Seeks to Explain Black-White Gap in College Completion
The primary driver of the black-white college graduation gap is a difference in "pre-entry" traits such as ACT scores and high school class rank, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study. The study is based on data from Missouri, but the researchers suggest that the findings could apply nationally, although they cite several limitations. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/02/13)
Common Core Assessments
Oklahoma to Drop Testing Consortium, Develop Own Tests, Barresi Says
State Superintendent Janet Barresi announced that she is withdrawing Oklahoma from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, which is developing tests for the Common Core. Instead, Oklahoma will develop its own new standardized tests. The decision was driven by concerns over additional testing time, the technological readiness of schools, and higher anticipated costs. (Tulsa World, 07/02/13)
Performance Funding
Graduation Rates, Test Scores Drive Higher Ed Funding
Tennessee and New Mexico give money to institutions for graduating high numbers of older and low-income students. Mississippi uses the power of the purse to promote science and technology programs. And Missouri is tying taxpayer dollars to graduation rates and students' scores on tests and professional licensing exams. The goals differ from state to state, but performance-based funding is a growing trend in higher education. (Stateline.org, 07/08/13)
Preschool Funding
States Revive Preschool Funding as Economies Recover
As Congress evaluates the Obama administration's plans for universal preschool, several states—including Alabama, Michigan, and Minnesota—already are inching toward that goal. The additional funding is meaningful, some education experts say, but largely reflects the rebounding of state economies, rather than a renewed emphasis on early childhood. Still, 2012-13 state preschool funding rose by $181 million, according to an ECS report. (USA Today, 07/05/13)
School Vouchers
Scott Walker: Future Voucher Expansion Should Be Based on Student Performance
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said future expansion of a new statewide voucher program should be based on whether voucher students perform as well as or better than they did in public school. Walker said that if legislators don't introduce a bill this fall bringing private voucher schools under the state report card system, he will propose his own. The Senate could consider a bill later this month. (Wisconsin State Journal, 07/04/13)
Wednesday, July 3
Charter Schools
Charter School Enrollment Ready to Surge
Not only has the Connecticut state board approved increasing enrollment at the state's 17 existing charter schools by 9% for the upcoming school year, but four new charter schools are expected to open over the next two years. According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Education, Connecticut remains well below the national average in the percentage of students attending charters. (Connecticut Mirror, 07/02/13)
Early Literacy
Law Puts High Priority on 3rd-grade Test Scores
Washington 3rd graders who fail a state reading test will soon have to meet with their parents and school officials to decide whether they should be held back, go to summer school, or receive another type of intervention. Gov. Jay Inslee signed S.B. 5946, which will require report cards for K-4 students to say whether or not they are reading at grade level. The law also addresses student discipline. (The Olympian, 07/03/13)
High School Transitions
Ninth Grade Academies Explored in New Report
To help support students in smaller, engaging learning environments, many districts have experimented with Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs). A MDRC study examined efforts to roll out NGAs at high schools in Florida's Broward County. Of the 18 schools that attempted to implement NGAs, only three achieved strong implementation. Another 10 met a threshold level of implementation and five fell below the threshold. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/01/13)
Higher Ed Funding
Oregon Explores Novel Way to Fund College
Oregon's legislature passed a bill to consider a pilot program that enables students to attend state schools with no money down. In return, the students would agree to pay into a special fund 3% of their salaries annually for 24 years. Under the "Pay it Forward, Pay it Back" plan, the state would likely borrow for the fund's seed money, but the program's designers intend it to become self-sustaining. (Wall Street Journal, 07/03/13)
NCLB Waivers/Teacher Evaluations
Survey: Most States Undecided about Duncan's Extra Waiver Flexibility
In the wake of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's offer to shift the teacher-evaluation timeline by one year for waiver states, Politics K-12 decided to survey all of the eligible states to see if they plan to apply for this new flexibility. Most are undecided, but a sizable number of states—14 in total—say they don't need or want the flexibility, for a variety of reasons. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 07/02/13)
Student Dept/Completion
College Default Rates Higher than Grad Rates
More than 260 colleges and universities in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have students who are more likely to default on their loans than full-time freshmen are to graduate, a USA Today analysis shows. The data are based on a new Education Sector report that identified 514 "red flag colleges," schools where the percentage of borrowers was higher than the schools' graduation rates. (USA Today, 07/03/13)
Tuesday, July 2
Affirmative Action
A Statement for Diversity
In response to the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, 37 college associations issued a joint statement in The New York Times on the importance of diversity in higher education. The advertisement noted that the justices did not revere past decisions upholding the right of colleges to consider race or ethnicity in admissions, but it did not mention that the ruling could pose difficulties for colleges wanting to do so. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/01/13)
Ed Policy Reforms
Five State Education Reform Tidbits from New NCES Data
The National Center for Education Statistics released updated data on state policy changes on accountability, testing, finance, school choice, and other issues. Among the report's findings: 12 states require districts to offer full-day kindergarten; 27 states allow virtual charter schools; 16 states require new teachers to participate in a mentoring program; and 38 states have defined "college ready," but only eight have aligned high school course credits to postsecondary requirements. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/27/13)
Financial Aid
Exacerbating Inequality
Many of the recent proposals to fix the federal financial aid system recommend a stronger focus on students likely to remain in college and earn their degrees. A new report from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance warns that embracing those principles would serve to exacerbate a system that already disadvantages the postsecondary outcomes of low-income black and Latino students. (Inside Higher Ed, 07/01/13)
Low-performing Schools
Parents Revolt Against Failing Schools
Versions of parent trigger laws have been proposed in at least 25 states and adopted by seven, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But parent triggers have been attempted only a handful of times. This year, bills to either create new parent trigger laws or modify existing ones are still alive in about a dozen states, while about a half dozen states have rejected such legislation. (Stateline.org, 07/01/13)
Pre-K Funding/Access
Gov. Robert Bentley Announces Expansion of Voluntary Pre-K programs
While Alabama's pre-K programs are nationally recognized for meeting quality benchmarks, it also ranks 33rd in access among the 40 states that offer pre-K programs. In response, Gov. Robert Bentley announced 93 grants totaling $7.3 million that will expand that access to more than 1,500 4-year olds. (AL.com, 06/26/13)
School Finance
Jerry Brown Signs School Funding Overhaul
Gov. Jerry Brown ushered in the most sweeping changes to the way California funds its schools in 25 years, signing into law a new funding formula that was the centerpiece of his legislative agenda. Schools that serve low-income students and non-native English speakers will receive more money under the formula, while all districts will be given new flexibility in how they spend state funds. (Los Angeles Times, 07/01/13)
Monday, July 1
Charter Schools
A Closer Look at States' Charter School Performance
A new examination of charter schools not only offers insights on the nationwide performance of the sector, but also provides a picture of charters' standing in individual states—which varies enormously. The Stanford University study presents a comparison of charter and regular public schools' performance in 27 states and explores performance among various sub-groups of students. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/26/13)
Common Core Assessments
PARCC Approves Test Performance-Level Descriptions by Grade, Subject
The PARCC governing board approved descriptions of the skills and knowledge that students must have, at each grade level and in each subject, to demonstrate specific levels of mastery on the Common Core assessments. The document goes grade by grade, from 3rd through 11th, detailing the "claims" and "sub claims" that the test seeks to make about students' mastery and how that mastery should be demonstrated. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/27/13)
Financial Aid
Key Federal Student Loan Rate Doubles
The interest rate on a key federal student loan doubled Monday, as expected, but it is unclear whether Congress will allow the increase to stand before the new school year gets under way. Federal law has set the rate for new subsidized Stafford loans at 6.8%, up from 3.4%. It is estimated that the rate hike would add about $1,000 in interest over the life of a loan for many borrowers. (Washington Post, 07/01/13)
High School Transitions
D.C. to Overhaul 9th Grade, Separating Out Students Who Failed
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson plans to overhaul the city's approach to 9th-grade education, separating out students who already have failed the first year of high school from incoming freshmen. School officials aim to nurture teens who are making the transition from middle to high school while also providing meaningful alternatives to students who are repeating 9th grade. (Washington Post, 07/01/13)
Preschool Funding
Hawaii Governor Signs Preschool Funding Bill
The state will help pay for approximately 1,000 children to attend preschool in 2014 under legislation Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law establishing a statewide school readiness program. Senate Bill 1093 expands the existing Preschool Open Doors program under the state Department of Human Services with an additional $6 million for subsidies to low-income families and underserved or at-risk. (Governing, 06/26/13)
Friday, June 21
Assessments/Common Core
Experts Urge States to Stay Course on High-Quality Assessments
A bevy of assessment experts has identified five factors that make assessments high quality and is urging states to hold out for such tests in the face of political and financial pressures that might weaken their resolve. Their report urges states and districts to demand the criteria when evaluating or building assessment systems. It appears to be intended in part to keep states on course toward the common assessments. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/21/13)
College Credential Payoff
State Site Shows Careers, Education, Pay
California community college students interested in a particular career can check a new website to see what people earn after completing a degree or certificate in the field. The Salary Surfer website from the California community college system reveals the median, annual incomes of workers who have graduated with a degree or certificate from 179 of the most widely enrolled programs. (San Francisco Chronicle, 06/19/13)
Early Learning/Caregivers
Toyota Boosts Investment in Kentucky Early Learning Program
More Kentucky parents and caregivers will be given the keys to help their children unlock everyday learning experiences, as Toyota pledged to double its sponsorship of the their Bornlearning Academies to $1 million. The academies, which are based at elementary schools, strive to close achievement gaps by providing parents and caregivers with tools to support their child's future academic performance. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Higher Ed Funding
States Boost College Funding, Rein in Tuition Costs
After years of deep budget cuts, several states are poised to boost higher education funding this year, often in exchange for a promise by colleges and universities to freeze tuition. Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, and Nebraska are among states where universities have agreed to such compromises. Governors of California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island support similar deals. (USA Today, 06/19/13)
School Vouchers
Budget Passes by One Vote as Vouchers Take Center Stage
The Wisconsin Senate narrowly passed the state budget, which includes a provision to allow more students to receive school vouchers. The budget would create a new statewide program that would allow children who meet income thresholds to use taxpayer money to attend private schools, including religious schools. The budget now goes to Gov. Scott Walker. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 06/21/13)
Teacher Evaluations
N.J. Moving Ahead with Plan to Link Test Scores to Teacher Evaluations
New Jersey will forge ahead with plans to link student test scores to teachers' evaluations, despite a new federal offer to delay using them in tenure decisions. Annual student progress reports will not factor into formal evaluations until 2015. Student growth will make up 30% of a teacher's evaluation and will be used math and language arts teachers in grades 4 through 8. (NorthJersey.com, 06/19/13)
Thursday, June 20
At-risk Students
Study: Homeless, Mobile Students Face Academic Risk Beyond Poverty
Homeless, highly mobile children are arguably the most at-risk of any students, well beyond the academic difficulties created by poverty alone. But many can persist and recover academically once their living arrangements stabilize, according to a new study in Child Development. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Career Pathways
Ga. Schools to Use Career-oriented Education Model
Georgia education officials have developed courses for the new career clusters framework that will allow students to choose one of 17 career pathways based on what they'd like to study in college. The pathways are based on a set of core curriculum and electives. In 2011, the legislature passed H.B. 186, which directed the education department to implement the career pathways program. (Athens Banner-Herald, 06/19/13)
Early Learning Assessment
Missouri Education Officials Recommend Preschool Tests
The Missouri state board is recommending that preschools voluntarily use an assessment program called the Desired Results Developmental Profile that was created by the California Department of Education. Missouri officials said they hope the assessment will provide a common benchmark that preschool programs can use to determine if they're helping prepare children for school. (Columbia Missourian, 06/19/13)
Economic Development/Humanities
Report: Humanities, Social Science Education Needed for Innovation Along with STEM
A workforce lacking robust humanities and social science education could be just as detrimental to the country's future economic competitiveness as one deficient in science and technological expertise, according to an American Academy of Arts and Sciences report. The report aims to highlight the importance of humanities and social sciences to economic development and of a well-rounded education. (Washington Post, 06/18/13)
English-language Learners
Nevada Gov. Signs Bill to Fund English-Learner Programs
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed legislation that will, for the first time in the state's history, provide funds specifically for English-language learners. Nevada is one of just a handful of states that did not provide targeted funding to pay for the education of ELLs. Sandoval first proposed a fiscal 2014 state budget with ELL funding of $14 million, but revised it upward to $50 million. Gov. Sandoval, ECS chair-elect, will discuss several education issues at the National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Wednesday, June 19
Common Core
Common Core: Setting the Record Straight (Commentary)
In this commentary, Richard Laine, NGA, and Chris Minnich, CCSSO, explain the history and driving forces behind the development of the Common Core State Standards. Their article also responds to some of the concerns regarding the standards as most states and the District of Columbia move toward implementation. Join the discussion with Laine and Minnich at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Early Learning
Nevada Selected for Early Childhood Education Grant
Nevada is one of six states awarded a National Governors Association grant and technical assistance to improve early childhood education. The state will receive $25,000 and work with NGA and the other states—Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania—to improve the effectiveness of teachers and polices affecting the education of children from birth through 3rd grade. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 06/17/13)
NCLB Waivers
Arne Duncan Allows Waiver States Extra Time on Teacher Evaluation
The Department of Education announced that some states with No Child Left Behind waivers will be able to postpone using student growth on state tests as a factor in teacher evaluation decisions for up to one additional year, until the 2016-17 school year. States would have to make their case to Secretary Arne Duncan for the new flexibility, and the department will approve the plans on a case-by-case basis. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Student Debt
Student Loan Debt Nearly Doubles in Past Five Years, Report Says
Student loan debt has nearly doubled in the past five years, posing a potential risk to the economy, according to a new report from Congressional Joint Economic Committee. The information found that student loans increased from $550 billion in late 2007 to just under $1 trillion in the first quarter of 2013. Two-thirds of recent graduates have student loans, with an average balance of more than $27,000. (Los Angeles Times, 06/18/13)
Tax Credits
Judge Says N.H.'s New Education Tax Credit Violates State Constitution
New Hampshire's new education tax law violates the state Constitution's ban on sending public money to religious schools but the program can continue for now, a superior court judge ruled. The program allows a business to reduce its state tax bill by donating money to a nonprofit that awards scholarships to help defray home-schooling costs or pay tuition at out-of-district public schools and private schools. (Concord Monitor, 06/18/13)
Tuesday, June 18
Low-performing Schools
Bobby Jindal Signs RSD 'Parent Trigger' Bill into Law
Parents will have more control over what entity has authority for their child's school under H.B. 115, which was signed into law by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Called the "parent trigger," the legislation will give parents the ability to shift control of a school from the state-run Recovery School District back to the local school district if the school has received a "D" or "F" grade for five consecutive years. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 06/17/13)
Student Athletics
South Carolina Becomes 49th State with Youth-Concussion Law
South Carolina has become the 49th state with a youth-concussion law, which requires broad distribution of concussion-information. If a coach, athletic trainer, official, or physician suspects a student-athlete has sustained a concussion either during practice or competition, the student must be removed from play and cannot return until he or she shows no signs or symptoms of a concussion. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Teacher Evaluations
New Regulations for Evaluating Nevada Teachers Win Approval
The Nevada board of education adopted legislative changes to a new teacher evaluation system rolling out this fall. In 2011, lawmakers mandated a four-tiered rating system that grades teachers' effectiveness based on student test scores and how well teachers model good teaching practices. Half of a teachers' evaluation will be based on student achievement data over a period of three years. (Las Vegas Sun, 06/14/13)
Teacher Preparation
Disputed Review Finds Disparities in Teacher Prep
Only a small number of teacher education programs are designed so that new teachers are adequately prepared, concludes a long-awaited and contested independent review. The National Council on Teacher Quality project grades programs on up to 18 standards on a scale of zero to four stars. About 160 programs were deemed so weak that they were put on a "consumer alert" list by the council. Hear Kate Walsh, NCTQ, discuss the report at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/18/13)
Undocumented Students
Tuition Cut Sought for Immigrant Children in N.J.
New Jersey college students who have lived in the country illegally or whose parents are not legal residents would pay in-state tuition and be eligible for state aid under a package of bills that will be voted on by the full Assembly. Whether the in-state tuition legislation will become reality in New Jersey is still unclear as sponsors are lacking bi-partisan support. (NorthJersey.com, 06/17/13)
Monday, June 17
College Credit Requirements
Credit Creep
One reason many students spend extra time trying to earn associate degrees is because community colleges often require more than 60 credits to meet academic program requirements, according to a survey by Complete College America and HCM Strategists. None of the 104 associate degree tracks surveyed had a median requirement of 60 credits or lower. About 13 programs required 64 credits, and many topped 70 or more. (Inside Higher Ed, 06/17/13)
Common Core
Funding for Common Core Implementation Ends with Gov. Snyder's Signature
Michigan joined Indiana as the only other state to halt implementing the Common Core standards after Gov. Rick Snyder signed the state's budget. The House Speaker said lawmakers will revisit the standards in the fall. Both houses of the legislature voted to prohibit any spending on implementing the standards or the related assessments without prior legislative authorization. (Mlive.com, 06/14/13)
Common Science Standards
Common Science Standards Deserve 'C' Grade, Think Tank Says
The existing science standards in 12 states and the District of Columbia are "clearly superior" to the Next Generation Science Standards developed by a coalition of states and national organizations, a Thomas B. Fordham Institute report concludes. Fordham says the common standards omit important science content knowledge, but some supporters questioned the report's conclusions. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/13/13)
Teacher Evaluations
Maryland Approves Teacher, Principal Evaluation Plans
The Maryland education department has approved 21 out of 22 teacher and principal evaluation plans that are required to take effect for the 2013-14 school year. The state asked districts to ensure that the Maryland School Assessment comprised 20% of the measure for evaluating teachers. Districts had to have new teacher evaluation systems in place to comply with the states' Race to the Top grant. (Washington Post, 07/14/13)
Teacher Layoffs
CPS to Lay Off Hundreds of Teachers from Closing Schools
Chicago Public Schools said that 663 employees at schools the district is closing, including teachers, teaching assistants, and bus aides, don't qualify to follow students to their new schools and will be laid off. The total includes 420 teachers, more than a third of them with tenure but rated either unsatisfactory or satisfactory. The district also announced layoffs at five underperforming schools slated for overhauls. (Chicago Tribune, 06/15/13)
Friday, June 14
College Degrees
Higher Ed Officials Announce Effort to Boost Associate Degrees
State higher education officials announced an initiative aimed at increasing the number of Arkansans with associate degrees. Under Credit When It's Due, if a college student transfers from a two-year to a four-year school without having obtained an associate degree, and later earns the required college credits in relevant courses, the two-year school would be encouraged to award the student an associate degree. (Arkansas News Bureau, 06/12/13)
Common Core/Math Courses
Diploma Requirements 'Out of Sync' with Common Core, Report Says
Most states that adopted the Common Core math standards lack high school graduation requirements that ensure all students will get the coursework they need to meet the new expectations, according to a new report. Only 11 Common Core states fully meet the definition of math alignment set out in the report. Another 13 states are partially aligned. Hear Chris Minnich, CCSSO, and Richard Laine, NGA, discuss the Common Core at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/12/13)
School Leadership
Chicago Upgrades Its Principal Pipeline
Chicago education officials are moving ahead with plans to groom a large crop of high-performing principals. The goal is to install some 300 leaders in schools by the start of the 2014-15 academic year who meet more-rigorous eligibility criteria, demonstrate the skills that are essential to turning around underperforming schools, and are willing to participate in an results-focused evaluation system. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
School Vouchers
Expanded Voucher System Approved by Arizona Senate
The Arizona Senate approved an expansion of a school voucher program that will allow kindergartners to participate and increase funding for students who leave charters for private schools. Senate Bill 1363 now goes to Gov. Jan Brewer. Before the expansion, only students with a disability, whose parents are in the military, or who attend very low-performing schools qualified. Check out ECS' summary of voucher policies. (Arizona Capitol Times, 06/13/13)
Teacher Preparation
Teachers' Teachers Face Test as Scrutiny of Education Rises
Following the lead of Tennessee and Louisiana, policymakers in several states are evaluating teacher preparation programs—and even issuing report cards for them—based on the test scores of their graduates' students. So far, eight states have policies requiring them to do a similar analysis, most of them adopted in the last few years, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. (Hechinger Report, 06/09/13)
Thursday, June 13
College Attainment
Mind the Gap
The percentage of adults who will hold a college degree in 2025 is projected to hit 48%, far short of Lumina Foundation's 60% goal for degree- and certificate-holders. To achieve that "big goal," the foundation's new report calls for 10 incremental targets to hit by 2016. The targets focus to some extent on black and Hispanic students, as well as working adults. Hear Jamie Merisotis, Lumina president, talk about postsecondary education trends at the ECS National Forum. (Inside Higher Ed, 06/13/13)
Low-performing Schools
State District to Run Struggling Schools in Va.
Plans are underway to open Virginia's new state-run district aimed at taking over and turning around academic performance in low-performing schools. Virginia's model comes 10 years after Louisiana established the Recovery School District, which took over and attempted to turn around academically struggling schools. Similar districts in Tennessee and Michigan are finishing their first year of operating schools. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Math Courses/Common Core
Questions Arise about Need for Algebra 2 for All
Should all students take Algebra 2? Florida and Texas seemed to say "no" with the passage of legislation that backs away from Algebra 2 for all. But other states have moved in the opposite direction. Those steps come as the Common Core standards set the expectation that all students should meet learning objectives at what's generally considered the Algebra 2 level. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Online Courses/Dual Enrollment
'MOOC' Plan Could Address Dual-Enrollment
Ten large public universities and postsecondary systems recently decided to partner with Coursera, a for-profit company that provides massive open online courses, or "MOOCs." The move is likely to have a trickle-down effect on K-12 education in areas that could include professional development for educators and increased options for students who want to earn college credits while still in high school. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Pre-K Teaching Quality
States View Teacher Quality as Pre-K Rating Factor
Teaching quality is a key piece of Georgia's early childhood effort, which has gained momentum because of an infusion of $6.5 million for teacher incentives and a statewide rating system. While states vary in the way they assess programs through the Quality Rating and Improvement System, most offer some financial incentive for good quality, including teachers' educational advancement. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Science Standards
Kansas Approves New Science Standards
The Kansas school board approved new multistate science standards for schools that treat evolution and climate change as key concepts to be taught from kindergarten through the 12th grade. Though the new standards drew some criticism over their treatment of evolution, it wasn't nearly as vocal or public as in the past. The standards were developed by Kansas, 25 other states, and the National Research Council. (Kansas City Star, 06/11/13)
Wednesday, July 12
Charter Schools
Most Charters Don't Have Sufficient Room to Grow, Study Says
More than half of charter schools are located in facilities that will be too small to allow for their current rate of growth in five years, according to results from a survey by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In response, the alliance and the Colorado League of Charter Schools have launched the Charter School Facilities Initiative. Learn more about charters at an ECS National Forum workshop. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/10/13)
Common Core
States Seek Flexibility During Common-Test Transition
With the debut of Common Core assessments less than two years away, states, and districts are worried about the accountability systems that hinge on those tests. A growing chorus of policy groups is urging more flexibility in how states evaluate teachers, label schools, and enforce other high-stakes consequences during what's likely to be a messy transition. Hear Chris Minnich, CCSSO, and Richard Laine, NGA, discuss the Common Core at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
District Takeovers/Teacher Evaluations
Kansas City Public Schools Face Possible State Intervention, Education Reformers Eye Ballot Initiative
Legislation passed last year, S.B. 125, removed the two-year waiting period for the Missouri education department to intervene in an unaccredited district and was aimed at Kansas City. Results from recent student test scores will determine whether the state will take control of the Kansas City district. Meanwhile, some education reformers are supporting a ballot initiative to adopt new teacher evaluation systems. (Missouri Times, 06/07/13)
Teacher Compensation
Valuing Physics Over P.E., Colorado Schools Test Novel Pay Scale
The Douglas County district in Colorado is launching an experiment that sets a different pay scale for each category of educator. Most elementary, art, and physical education teachers' salaries would top out at $61,000. Middle-and high-school English teachers can earn up to $72,000. High school science and math teachers draw upper salaries of $82,000. Special education therapists, who max out at $94,000. (Huffington Post, 06/10/13)
Teacher Evaluations
Race Is on to Ready Teacher Evaluations in New York City
Administrators and teachers in New York City have just three months to adapt before the expectations of a new teacher-evaluation system kick in. While a small fraction of the teaching force has had training through pilot programs, the final system demands execution on a far larger scale. When it rolls out, it will probably be the country's largest revamped evaluation system, used for 75,000 teachers.
(Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/11/13)
Tuesday, June 11
College Enrollment/Attainment
Nearly 40% of Oregon High School Grads Don't Go to College
Oregon adopted a goal of getting 80% of its young people to earn a college credential—40% for a four-year degree and 40% for an associate's degree or industry certificate. But among the high school class of 2011, just 61% enrolled in a college or community college anywhere in the country by fall 2012. And only one district sends enough graduates on to college to reaching the 80% target any time soon. Hear about college completion strategies at the ECS National Forum. (Oregonian, 06/08/13)
College Remediation
New Denver Public Schools Remedial Classes Aimed at College Success
Denver Public Schools will offer free remedial math and English classes this summer in response to a higher education department's report, which shows that more than 60% of graduates need college remediation. A student who gets a C or higher would not have to take the course in college under an agreement with Colorado universities. The classes will be offered during the school year in 2013-14. Learn about ECS' college readiness Blueprint at the National Forum. (Denver Post, 06/10/13)
District Layoffs/Budgets
More than 3,700 School Employees Are Being Laid Off
Philadelphia Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., announced that the district started mailing layoff notices to 3,783 employees, informing them they will lose their jobs July 1 because of the district's financial crisis. The list includes 676 teachers, 283 counselors, 127 assistant principals, and 1,202 noontime aides. Officials said more jobs would be lost. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 06/07/13)
ESEA Reauthorization
Rival Proposals Show No Clear Path to ESEA Rewrite
Lawmakers in Congress introduced three separate pieces of legislation to rewrite the stalled Elementary and Secondary Education Act—but none of the measures has bipartisan backing. All three bills—like the administration's waivers under No Child Left Behind—would move away from adequate yearly progress. But the similarities largely end there. Check out a side-by-side comparison of the bills. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/10/13)
Science Standards
New Kentucky Academic Standards for Science Advance Despite Critics
The Kentucky Board of Education approved new academic standards for science education, including updates on evolution and climate change. Officials worked with 25 other states to develop the new standards. The action comes several weeks after Rhode Island became the first state to adopt the next generation science standards. (Louisville Courier-Journal, 06/06/13)
Monday, June 10
Dropout Recovery
A 'Neglected' Population Gets Another Chance at a Diploma
Educators and researchers who work with at-risk students say there is no way to really achieve the Graduation Nation goal of a 90% graduation rate by 2020 without taking time to find, bring back, and keep the students who already have fallen through the cracks, at a rate of roughly 1 million every year. Texas, for example, has created a statewide focus on recovering the students who already had left school. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/06/13)
Graduation Requirements
Michigan House Approves Changes to High School Merit Curriculum Graduation Requirements
The Michigan House approved two bills that expand the subjects which satisfy high school graduation requirements. House Bills 4465 and 4466 allow for career and technical education courses to count toward the Algebra II requirement, expand the foreign language requirement to include credits earned as early as kindergarten, and make other changes to science and physical education requirements.
(Mlive.com, 06/06/13)
High School Redesign
Arne Duncan Unveils High School Grant Program Details
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered more details on the administration's proposed $300 million high school redesign initiative, which will have a career-related and STEM focus. The program would dole out competitive grants to districts in partnership with postsecondary institutions and other organizations to help high schools emphasize the skills that prepare students for higher education and the workforce. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/07/13)
Preschool Funding
Education Department Puts Numbers to 'Preschool For All' Proposal
The Education Department released fact sheets for every state letting them know how much they stand to gain if the Obama administration's proposal to expand preschool opportunities is adopted. The funding level is based on the state's population of 4-year-olds in low-income families and assumes that states will expand to 20% of their eligible 4-year-olds in the first year. Hear secretaries Arne Duncan and Kathleen Sebelius discuss the proposed early-learning initiative at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/07/13)
Value of College Education
The Premium from a College Degree
In recent years, the burden of student-loan debt has raised questions about whether college is really worth the investment. New research from the Hamilton Project, says that on average, the answer is still yes. The analysis even argues that it's better to pay something for a little postsecondary education than it is to pay nothing for none despite the rise in college costs. (New York Times, 06/07/13)
Friday, June 7
Early Learning Coordination
Wyoming Legislators Seek to Coordinate Early Childhood Education
Wyoming legislators agreed to consider new funding sources for early childhood education programs and to study how to improve their coordination across the state. Members of the education and the health and social services committees discussed early learning efforts with officials from four state departments and various professionals. Only 52% of kindergartners in 2009 were prepared to begin school. (Casper Tribune, 06/06/13)
ESEA Reauthorization
Senate Republicans: No Child Left Behind Should Give Governors More Say
Republicans on Congress' education committees unveiled rewrites to No Child Left Behind that would give governors final responsibility for holding schools accountable and largely limit the Education Department to promoting the importance of learning. States would determine if their schools are succeeding and could ignore previous federal requirements to show they are getting better every year. (Huffington Post, 06/06/13)
Financial Aid
U.S. Senate Rejects Dueling Bills on Student-Loan Interest Rates
Two bills designed to hold down student-loan interest rates both failed on votes in the U.S. Senate, splitting Republicans and Democrats again as the deadline nears to keep key rates from doubling. The votes put Congress in a tight deadlock in the student-loan debate. Interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans will double, to 6.8%, if Congress does not pass legislation to forestall the change by July 1. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 06/06/13)
Higher Ed Governance/Accountability
After Missteps, Lawmakers Move for More Oversight of State's Universities
Connecticut legislators have asked the governor to sign H.B. 6491 and S.B. 868, which would increase their oversight over public colleges and universities. College officials would be required to come before lawmaker’ to answer questions about their budgets and report student-to-administrator ratios, how their systems compare to similar college systems, and how much they are paying their administrators. (Connecticut Mirror, 06/05/13)
Student Data/Teacher Prof. Devel.
Teachers' Data Use Becoming PD Emphasis
While schools and districts now have a wealth of longitudinal student data at their fingertips, teachers are just at the beginning of learning how to use that information effectively, says a New America Foundation report. Despite various challenges, professional development programs in Oregon and Delaware provide valuable models for making data useful to teachers. Learn about Delaware’s data coaches program at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/06/13)
Thursday, June 6
College Readiness/Success
Academics Not Only Factor in College Success, ACT Report Says
A new report from ACT, Inc., underscores that while academic readiness is important it is not the sole factor at play in college success. About 19% of high school graduates in 2011 who took the ACT and were considered college-ready in at least three of the four subject areas never enrolled or didn't return for a second year. The report offers recommendations to improve college-retention rates. Learn about ECS' college readiness Blueprint at the National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/04/13)
Common Core
Common Core Funding Blocked in New Michigan Budget after Senate Vote
Michigan is poised to became the second state to "pause" implementation of the Common Core standards after the Senate approved a budget barring funding for the guidelines. The omnibus budget measure, which now heads to Gov. Rick Snyder, includes a provision that prevents the education department from spending any money on implementation of the standards. Indiana has passed similar legislation. (Mlive.com, 06/04/13)
Federal Ed Agenda
Jumble of Education Topics Facing Congress
From pre-kindergarten to No Child Left Behind, from broadband-wired schools to college loans, students in every age group are suddenly finding the spotlight on Capitol Hill. After months of relative neglect, education issues are getting the attention of lawmakers—as well as President Barack Obama—just as the school year is ending and, for many college students, the cost of education is about to go up. (Boston Globe, 06/06/13)
Graduation Rates
Nation's Graduation Rate Nears a Milestone
At the beginning of the last decade, only about two-thirds of U.S. students were finishing high school with a regular diploma. An analysis from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that the graduation rate stands just shy of 75% for the class of 2010. But there is a flip side to these gains: Far too many young people are still failing to complete a meaningful high school education. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/06/13)
Teacher Retirement Plans
Pension-System Woes Put Legislators on Hot Seat
States continue to grapple with major changes to their teacher-retirement systems, with significant legislation either recently passed or already signed in states such as Minnesota and Texas, and with Illinois lawmakers at odds on the issue as their session drew to a close. Policymakers are trying a variety of approaches that include requiring new employees to enter defined-contribution retirement plans. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 06/04/13)
Virtual Charter Schools
N.J.'s Education Commissioner Scuttles State's Proposed 'Virtual' Charter Schools
New Jersey's education commissioner has scratched plans to let the state's first two virtual charter schools open in the fall, citing questions about their legal foundation and "serious concerns" about the state's ability to oversee them. Education Commissioner Chris Cerf granted conditional approval to the two virtual charters two years ago but has denied them final permission to open. (North New Jersey.com, 06/04/13)
Wednesday, June 5
Ed Reform Implementation
Some Education Reforms to Be Phased-in
The Connecticut House give final passage to S.B. 1097, which allows districts to move a little slower in implementing two elements of the 2012 education reforms pushed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The bill gives districts the flexibility to roll out the new teacher evaluation process over two years instead of one and delays programs to address the high rate of elementary students struggling to read. (Connecticut Mirror, 06/04/13)
ESEA Reauthorization
No Child Left Behind Reauthorization Revived by Harkin Bill
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate education committee, released a new bill to update No Child Left Behind that contains a softer version of annual performance goals, with a focus on continuous improvement and college and career academic content. It also would require states to implement teacher and principal evaluations that rely in part on student achievement, as defined by states. (Huffington Post, 06/04/13)
Higher Ed Funding
The New 'New Normal'
With many states' economies rebounding, lawmakers are increasing funding for higher education and holding down tuition prices. While it might be too soon to tell if a new model is emerging, officials say the freezes are the result of a political backlash against tuition hikes and an increasing emphasis to hold down the price of college, a goal that can often come at the expense of other institutional goals. (Inside Higher Ed, 06/04/13)
Pre-K Funding
Some States Shoring Up Spending on Pre-K
While Congress studies President Obama’s proposal for a $75 billion investment in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, governors and state lawmakers are forging ahead with their own ideas. A report by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) painted a gloomy picture of state pre-kindergarten funding in 2011-12. This school year, state spending on pre-K appears to be growing, according to an analysis by ECS. Hear Mike Griffith talk about pre-K funding at the ECS National Forum. (Stateline.org, 06/05/13)
Virtual Charter Schools
Maine Senate Supports Moratorium on Virtual Public Charter Schools
The Maine Senate approved a bill that would place a moratorium on the creation of virtual charter schools until enactment of laws and guidelines that govern them. The bill, LD 995, calls on the Maine Charter School Commission to study the issue and bring recommendations back to the full legislature. In 2011, Maine passed the state's first-ever charter school law. (Bangor Daily News, 06/04/13)
Tuesday, June 4
College Remediation
Florida Colleges to Drop Remedial Classes for Thousands
Florida Gov. Rick Scott recently signed S.B 1720 to overhaul college remediation and allow a large segment of students to immediately enroll in college-level courses, regardless of their academic abilities. The goal is to allow more students to start earning college credits while also offering them support services. Some researchers praise the legislation, but college administrators fear that students are being set up to fail. Check out ECS' new brief on remedial reform models. (Orlando Sentinel, 06/03/13)
Early Learning
Business Leaders Back Pre-K Programs in Letter to Obama, Congress
Four-year-olds are key to the future economy, and if they're not educated problems will arise, say the 300 business leaders from 44 states who signed an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress as members of America's Promise Alliance. The letter cited the economic benefits of early-childhood education, workforce preparedness, and standing in the global marketplace. Hear secretaries Arne Duncan and Kathleen Sebelius discuss the proposed early-learning initiative at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 05/31/13)
Education Reforms
Sweeping Education Reforms Become Law
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad called the education reform bill he signed into law "a turning point in Iowa history," but it lacks many of the provisions included in the administration's initial pitch for improved schools. The final bill, for example, failed to link student performance to teacher evaluations or require high school students to pass end-of-course exams in core subjects. (Des Moines Register, 06/04/13)
State Takeovers
N.J. Moves to Take Over Another District
Nearly 25 years after New Jersey first took control of a troubled district, a proposed state takeover of the Camden schools sheds a critical spotlight on that state's long record of trying to right struggling districts through such intervention. Though the situation is different in each district, it is widely agreed that the academic performance in the state-run districts has not improved notably after years of state control. Check out ECS' policy database on takeovers. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 05/31/13)
Teacher Evaluations
As State Watches, LA Unified Tests New Ways to Grade Teachers
The second-largest district in the nation at more than 640,000 students, Los Angeles Unified has become a testing ground to increase accountability for teachers, a movement that has gained speed across the nation. The outcome in Los Angeles will have repercussions throughout the state as pressure mounts to improve the state's lagging achievement and qualify for federal funding. (Hechinger Report, 06/03/13)
Monday, June 3
Admissions/Affirmative Action
Income-Based Diversity Lags at Some Universities
Opponents of race-based affirmative action in admissions urge colleges to use a different tool to encourage diversity: giving a leg up to poor students. But many educators see real limits to how eager colleges are to enroll more poor students, no matter how qualified—and the reason is money. One college official said that it is expensive to identify, recruit, enroll, and provide financial aid to these students. (New York Times, 05/30/13)
Common Core
State Chiefs: Common Core Requires Flexibility, Not a Pause
The Council of Chief State School Officers is rejecting calls for a moratorium on any high stakes tied to the Common Core State Standards, and is instead suggesting that states have almost all of the power they need to smooth the way for what could be a rocky transition. Specifically, states need some wiggle room in accountability, teacher evaluations, and assessments, according to a document CCSSO has drafted. Hear Chris Minnich, CCSSO, and Richard Laine, NGA, discuss the Common Core at the ECS National Forum. (Education Week, premium article access compliments of edweek.org, 05/28/13)
Online Courses
Bill Allows Students to Take More Online Courses
A South Carolina Senate committee advanced S.B 3752, which would remove the limits of three online credit hours per year and 12 toward a high school diploma for 7th-12th graders. The program was designed to help students who have fallen behind to graduate and increase access for students in rural schools. But the current law's three-credit limit may prevent students from recovering the credits they need to catch up. (Groupstate.com, 05/29/13)
School Safety
School Safety Bill Passes Senate Panel as Gov. Bobby Jindal Signs Another into Law
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed H.B. 718, which will require schools to coordinate with local law enforcement, fire, and public safety officials in preparing school safety and crisis management plans. The law would also require schools to undertake live-shooter scenario drills and train employees on how to deal with such a scenario. Another proposed bill would urge schools to place an armed guard on campus. (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 05/30/13)
Teacher Evaluations
New York to Evaluate Teachers with New System
The New York State education commissioner broke a long and acrimonious impasse by imposing a new evaluation system that would rate New York City teachers in part on their students' test scores and streamline the disciplinary process. The plan would make New York City the only district that would leave a significant part of the implementation of the evaluations up to individual schools. (New York Times, 06/01/13) |
