Morning Announcements: November 9, 2010

The New York Times reports on a new study suggesting that the achievement gap separating black from white students is even bleaker than genrally known.

A Maryland legislative committee voted Monday to reject a new regulation requiring that half of teachers' evaluations be based on student progress, calling into question the future of a $250 million federal Race to the Top grant, the Washington Post reports. Also from the Post - Extended school days under consideration in District public system.

Education Week finds that collaborations are popping up across the country between charter and traditional public schools and showing promise that charter schools could fulfill their original purpose of becoming research-and-development hothouses for public education. Education Week also reports on a handful of school districts, some with the approval of their local teachers’ unions, that are experimenting with alternatives to the fundamental components that govern teachers’ base-pay raises.