Afternoon Announcements: Chicago Students Boycott State Exam

A number of Chicago high school students plan to boycott a state exam, saying that it’s unfair that their results will be used to judge the quality of their school. Two student-led groups have organized the protest – Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools. WBEZ

House Republicans are asking questions about No Child Left Behind Waiver implementation. They’ve sent their questions to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, along with state chiefs who were approved for the flexibility from provisions in the law. Politics K-12

New research from the Pew Research Center shows that American students aren’t doing as poorly on international science tests as the public thinks. Many Americans surveyed incorrectly assumed that U.S. 15-year-olds scored near the bottom on international science tests. Huffington Post

An interesting feature looks into how standardized testing can help low-income students. It looks into the Atlanta teaching scandal, refuting the misplaced idea that teachers need to cheat in order for low-income students to “pass” exams. The Atlantic Read Entire Post

Afternoon announcements: Teachers rank highest in 'well-being' among professionals

Chicago teachers, public school supporters, and even students rallied and marched against the closing of 53 elementary schools. The Chicago Teachers Union organized the protest, which saw 127 people detained. Chicago Tribune

Providence, Massachusetts received a $5 million prize in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, and they plan to use it to study the “word gap,” or how the difference in the amount of language a baby is exposed to advances their academic success. They’ll give low-income families recording devices to calculate how many words the children hear, compared to higher-income families, and coach parents on how to boost language exposure. The Boston Globe

The U.S. Department of Education will pre-screen applications for the fourth round of the Investing in Innovation grants. The awards are worth $3 million and are part of the larger $150 million contest. The deadline to apply is April 26th, and the contest looks for innovative ideas to solve problems in education. Politics K-12

New analysis shows that teachers may be some of the happiest professionals, despite recent debates on teacher pensions, salaries, and performance reviews. The research examined teachers’ “well-being,” measured by physical and emotional health, job satisfaction, and feelings of community and safety. Physicians ranked second after teachers. New York Times Read Entire Post

Afternoon announcements: Students protest Chicago school closings

Nine school districts in California have submitted a No Child Left Behind waiver application to the U.S. Department of Education. State officials have approved it, though reluctantly. Politics K-12

The Common Core State Standards offer educators a way to teach beyond worksheets and textbooks. One algebra teacher shares his excitement. Education Week

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is under attack from those who believe his $14 million program to help English-language learners is not enough. Struggling students need more resources, the opponents of the Governor’s program argue. Las Vegas Sun

Students have taken up the cause of fighting against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close 54 public schools in the city. One student believes that shifting students from schools with higher violence rates will negatively influence safety at the remaining schools. Chicago Tribune Read Entire Post

Afternoon announcements: Sequestration cuts hit Native American schools hardest

There are two paths to implementing the Common Core State Standards – one that resembles No Child Left Behind and the other that transforms teaching and learning. Ensuring that the Standards are adopted and utilized in a way that benefits students and teachers is essential. Education Week

The across-the-board federal budget cuts, or sequestration cuts, are disproportionately affecting Native American schools. Most Native reservation school campuses receive federal Impact Aid intended for schools that can’t collect local property taxes. USA Today

Chicago city school officials announced the planned closures of 53 elementary schools and one high school. This amounts to 11% of elementary schools closing. Wall Street Journal

The Texas House has put up a budget plan that would add $1 billion to education funding. If approved, it would make up about half of the funding lost two years ago. Houston Chronicle Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: June 29, 2012

Go ahead and give yourself a high five. You made it to Friday. The weekend is ahead of you, and if you’re in the DC area, that means sitting in front of a fan and trying desperately to find relief from this heat wave. Actually, looking at the weather map, there’s a lot of places across the country at the moment where you could be reading this in front of a fan. In any event, we have a bunch of pieces of news for you today to close your week out properly.

Five more states are free from key requirements of the No Child Left Act today because the Department of Education has granted waivers to Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia. This brings the count of states that have been granted waivers up to 24. The Associated Press via Education Week has more on the implications of this story.

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Morning Announcements: May 11, 2012

Happy Friday and Happy (early) Mother’s Day to all the moms out there who work tirelessly each and every day to raise this nation’s next generation of leaders…(and keep educators employed). Here are your top education news stories to hold you over for the weekend.

From the New York Times: Depending on how you spin it, the newest government reports on science and eight-grade learners can either be a sign of hope or a disappointment. While eighth graders made modest gains in national science testing, with Hispanics and blacks narrowing the gap between their white and Asian peers, they still lag behind their international counterparts. 7 out of 10 eight graders are still not considered “proficient”.

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Morning Announcements April 27, 2012

Congratulations, it’s another Friday. You’ve made it through a tiring, hectic work week and are now free to relax and kick back or party hard, whichever you prefer. But not just yet. Until the work day officially ends, you’re stuck here. You might as well take in some education news in the meantime.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some local Head Start programs for the first time will have to compete for a share of $7.6 billion in federal funding under a plan aimed at weeding out low-performing preschool centers.

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Morning Announcements April 23, 2012

Good Monday Morning, but if you’re following the national forecasts, it’s probably not so good of a morning. After an unusual heat wave that had much of the nation experiencing above-average temperatures, old-man winter decided to have one more rendezvous with our winter coats. Bundle up, bring an umbrella, and don’t forget to get caught up on the latest education news of the day.

The Boston Globe that low-income school districts in Boston are most likely to place students in special education programs for mild and sometimes questionable disabilities, a practice that has swelled Massachusetts’s special education population to one of the highest levels in the nation. According to a study commissioned by the state, the finding debunks a long-held belief that it is the well-heeled parents in wealthier districts that have been pushing up special education rates as they demand advantages for their children.

From the Washington Post, the U.S. Department of Education is seeking to bring test-based assessment to teacher prep programs. The Obama administration wants to expand the use of standardized test scores as an accountability tool from K-12 into higher education.

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Morning Announcements April 17, 2012

It's Tax Day! If you were one of the millions of Americans who dilligently filed their taxes early or online, kick back and relax. If not, hurry up and get your returns filed before the post offices close! Here are your latest headlines in education news.

The Alliance for Excellent Education continues its discussion on the limits of teacher privacy and personal life. The Huffington Post  poses the question of whether students and teachers should be allowed to interact via text messaging. This year has already seen a slew of controversial incidents involving teachers texting students. Earlier this month, Pennsylvania teacher Timothy Moll was accused of texting one of his students and offering good grades for naked pictures.

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Morning Announcements: February 21, 2012

Good Morning! Fortunately we were able to skip the sluggish Monday had head right into Tuesday. The countdown through a short week begins! Here are your latest education headlines.

As a part of the Obama administration’s efforts to address the alarming rate of childhood obesity, a new will be announced that highlights guidelines for vending machines in schools, according to the New York Times. The goal is to set nationwide standards that promote healthy choices for nourishment of growing children.

In Chicago, the public schools system’s new administration has added a new assessment test for elementary school students. As the Chicago Tribune reports, the new measures come after years of complaints from teachers and administrators that the previous assessment tests for the state's Illinois Standard Achievement Test set the bar too low when preparing kids for college.

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