Morning Announcements: May 8, 2012

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day to all of the educators out there. We here at the Alliance for Excellent Education certainly value the hard work and dedication you show day-in and day-out to the millions of people across the nation who will soon be the leaders of tomorrow. A heartfelt “Thank You” from all of us here at AEE! Here are your latest education headlines:

From the Associated Press, Connecticut senators approved a series of education proposals championed by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, who just hours earlier had announced an agreement with legislative leaders on plans for changes that include helping low-performing schools and culling ineffective teachers from the classroom.

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Five Myths About the Common Core State Standards

Writing for the Harvard Education Letter, Alliance Senior Fellow Robert Rothman explores five myths about the Common Core State Standards, which have been adopted by forty-five states and the District of Columbia.

To hear more from Rothman on the common standards, register for the book release party the Alliance is hosting for him on October 18 in Washington, DC. Alternatively, you can order a copy of his new book, Something in Common: The Common Core Standards and the Next Chapter in American Education, at http://www.hepg.org/hep/book/146/SomethingInCommon.

Rothman's five myths about the Common Core State Standards appear below:

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Report Round Up: September 30, 2011

Check out this week's education-related reports! Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: July 21, 2011

In the aftermath of the Atlanta cheating scandal and recent cheating allegations in other school districts across the country, the Washington Post’s “On Leadership” convened a roundtable on how best to approach teacher incentives in the U.S. education system. Respondent U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan indicates despite the cheating scandals, testing and teaching are not at odds.

Education Week writes about how the fallout from the debt debate could affect education.

California has more homeless students than any other state in the nation. In 2009, nearly one-third of all homeless students nationwide lived in California, according to the U.S. Department of Education; and those students are struggling academically, reports California Watch.

For homeless students who go on to college, every expense is a mountain to be climbed; the Washington Post asks readers for thoughts on how to make it work.

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Stats That Stick: April 13, 2011

The percentage of high school graduates completing a “rigorous” curriculum, with higher-level mathematics and science curricula, jumped from 5 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 2009. Those who took a “midlevel” curriculum increased from 26 percent to 46 percent in the same period. –National Assessment of Educational Progress

Approximately 3 million children in the United States have a parent in prison. –Restorative Justice blog

The overall annual price tag for incarceration, youth detention, and parole in the United States: nearly $70 billion – of which $50 billion is spent at the state level. –NAACP

A student who can't read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time. Add poverty to the mix, and a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient, wealthier peer.- Annie E. Casey Foundation

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Morning Announcements: March 24, 2011

Calls for shared curriculum for the common standards have triggered renewed debates about who decides what students learn, and even about varied meanings of the word “curriculum”, according to Education Week.

On a related note, St. Cloud Times columnist Phyllis VanBuren writes about the common core state standards initiative and how it will impact Minnesota.

In a shift anticipated for years, Latino children now for the first time make up the majority of Texas public school students, Dallas News reports.

The Augusta Chronicle reports on the Alliance’s recently released report, “Education and the Economy: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates” and the results for Georgia.

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