Afternoon Announcements: August 8, 2011

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that he will unilaterally override the centerpiece requirement of the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, that 100 percent of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014, the New York Times reports.

According to U.S. News & World Report, universities are beginning to offer online high school diplomas.

The Washington Post reports that huge achievement gaps persist in DC schools.

Four of the lowest-performing schools in Montana recently got some good news: All four saw improvement in the annual state tests that measure how well tenth graders are doing in math, reading and science, reports the Billings Gazette.

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Report Round-Up

Here are some of the education-related reports that were released this week. Feel free to add any that we missed in the comments section.

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Morning Announcements: August 5, 2011

The Huffington Post reports that with no tangible sign from Congress that relief in the form of an updated law will come any time soon, states from Missouri to Wisconsin are lining up to request waivers from the U.S. Department of Education as a means of getting around the statutes of No Child Left Behind.

The Huffington Post also writes about a new report that finds that earnings increase with education and that higher levels of educational attainment will almost always yield the greatest financial reward.

Raleigh’s News & Observer reports that in the face of continuing budget cuts, North Carolina’s public schools showed mixed results this year, with more students graduating from high school but fewer schools meeting state and federal targets for academic achievement.

Half of Texas school districts and 1 out of 4 campuses failed to meet federal standards, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

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Afternoon Announcements: August 4, 2011

In a recent Education Week blog post, the author asks, “Are 82 percent of schools ‘failing’ under NCLB, as Duncan warned?” According to the post, so far, most states that have released their results are not coming close to this number.

The New York Times reports that the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a blunt acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances.

In California and around the United States, the public, private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors alike are investing resources and forging new partnerships to address America's glaring education crisis in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) (Huffington Post)

Education Week reports that at least twenty-three states have approved cuts to K–12 education for the coming year, reductions that will shrink or eliminate a broad array of school programs and services, particularly those serving the neediest communities.

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Gov. Wise Announces Creation of the Center for Secondary School Digital Learning & Policy

In the video below, Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, announces the creation of the Center for Secondary School Digital Learning & Policy.

As Gov. Wise explains, the Center will focus on how digital learning can bring quality college and career ready education to secondary schools with a focus on improving outcomes for low-income students and low-performing schools. The Center's work in digital learning will be integrated into all of the Alliance's many policy areas-including school transformation, college and career ready standards, adolescent literacy, international comparisons, and various federal and national policies-in an effort to improve student learning.

Click on the image below to watch the complete video:

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How Schools Are Transforming Education Using Digital Learning & Technology

On July 21, the Alliance held a webinar examining how successful schools and states are using digital learning to improve student outcomes. The webinar featured Alliance President Bob Wise, Ryan Imbriale, principal at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts in Dundalk, Maryland, and Melinda Maddox, director of technology initiatives at the Alabama Department of Education.

A short teaser video from the webinar is available below. To watch the complete webinar, go to http://media.all4ed.org/webinar-jul-21-2011.

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Stats That Stick: August 3, 2011

Once nearly 100 percent, the teacher tenure rate in New York City dropped to 58 percent of under tougher evaluation guidelines that the city put into effect this year. A decision on tenure was deferred for 39 percent of eligible teachers, up from 8 percent a year ago. (New York Times)

Four out of 10 new public school teachers hired since 2005 came through alternative teacher-preparation programs, according to a survey just released by the National Center for Education Information,  up from 22 percent of new teachers hired between 2000 and 2004. (Education Week)

On Tuesday, the Kentucky Department of Education reported that for the 2009–10 school year, the state’s high school graduation rate was 76.6 percent. (Bowling Green Daily News)

The South Dakota Education Department reported Tuesday that 94 percent of the state’s public school districts made adequate yearly progress under the federal education improvement law, down 1 percentage point from a year ago; about 80 percent of the individual schools made adequate yearly progress. (Rapid City Journal)

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Morning Announcements: August 3, 2011

The Washington Post reports that the domestic spending cuts contemplated in the debt-ceiling deal are sure to compound the dire fiscal situation confronting the states, which already are reducing jobs and slashing once-untouchable programs to balance their budgets.

The Christian Science Monitor features an article along the same lines, saying that federal spending cuts mean fewer dollars will flow to the states for unemployment benefits, education, health care, and other state-run programs.

The California Dream Act offers a young illegal immigrant a morale boost, writes the Los Angeles Times.

Kentucky reports a 76 percent high school graduation rate, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

According to the Denver Post, major education groups in Colorado back proposed state tax hike for K–12 education.

Connecticut education officials are considering seeking a waiver to requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, reports the Connecticut Mirror.

 

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Morning Announcements: August 2, 2011

As a vote nears in Congress to lift the federal debt ceiling and stave off a financial default, education advocates are just beginning to take stock of what this will mean for K-12 education, reports Education Week.

A recent Washington Post blog post includes Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond’s speech from last Saturday’s Save Our Schools march in Washington, DC, in which she explains the extent of the trouble public education is in.

According to the New York Times, New York State education officials announced yesterday that they had begun to review the way they detect and prevent cheating on standardized tests, taking a step to avoid the cheating scandals that have engulfed school systems in other states.

A recent Education Week blog post talks about the struggle states are having with linking teacher-student data.

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Afternoon Announcements: August 1, 2011

Education Week reports that the debt ceiling fix could mean problems for schools, citing Rep. George Miller, the top Democrat on the House education committee, who warned that the reductions contained in the debt ceiling legislation are “going to make life much more difficult" for public schools.

The Los Angeles Times reports that after a particularly brutal budgeting season this summer, states and school districts across the country have fired thousands of teachers, raised college tuition, relaxed standards, slashed days off the academic calendar and gutted pre-kindergarten and summer school programs.

The Save Our Schools march on Saturday called for teacher-backed reform, reports the Huffington Post. And the Washington Post shares Matt Damon’s speech during the rally. In his opening remarks, he says, “I landed in New York a few hours ago and caught a flight down here because I needed to tell you all in person that I think you’re awesome.”

The Atlantic reports that according to Missouri Senate Bill 54, just signed by state Governor Jay Nixon, any social networking is prohibited between teachers and students; this includes not only Facebook, but any social network “that is exclusive and allows for private communication,” according to ABC News.

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