Afternoon Announcments: December 15, 2011

Good Afternoon, it's almost the weekend so hurry through your evening. But don't rush through the latest in education news.

It looks like someone in the Department of Education needs to reassess their calculation skills. According to the New York Times, a new study by the Center for Educational Policy found that the Secretary of Education largely overstated the percent of schools nationwide that are failing under the No Child Left Behind act. While Secretary Arne Duncan initially reported 82 percent of schools are failing, it turns out that in reality, it is slightly above half of that- 48 percent.

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Afternoon Annoucements: December 2, 2011

Happy Friday!  If you haven’t headed to happy hour already, kick back and enjoy as we ease you into the weekend with today’s education news.

The editorial board at the Washington Post applauds Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s call to tackle the spiraling cost of college education by actually addressing the cost side of the equation as opposed to government solely focusing efforts on increasing federal aid and reducing interest costs on loans. Although acknowledging Secretary Duncan’s initiatives will not be a complete resolution to the enormous problem, the Washington Post calls it a “welcome dose of straight talk.”

 

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Afternoon Announcements: October 27, 2011

A National Council on Teacher Quality report released Wednesday identifies Maryland as a leader in teacher evaluations, writes the Baltimore Sun.

The common core state standards in English/language arts and mathematics are generally aligned to the leading state, international, and university standards at the high-school-exit level, but a new report says they are more rigorous in some content areas, writes Education Week.

The Chicago Tribune offers four tech tips for parents to embrace digital education.

The MinnPost reports that in a recent visit to Patrick Henry High, Sen Al Franken mixed “math, mirth, and education-bill backing.”

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President Announces Waivers For No Child Left Behind, Time For Congress To Get Back In The Boxing Ring

President Barack Obama announced today sweeping changes in his administration’s plan for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as Child Left Behind. He unveiled that the Department of Education will begin to issue waivers to states from NCLB if they follow general guidelines.

In his latest video, Alliance President Bob Wise — former governor of West Virginia — compares Obama’s latest move to a punch in a boxing ring. Obama said he is allowing waivers because Congress has refused to act.

Wise said waivers are a step forward but the only real solution is for Congress to pass full legislation necessary for education reform.

“The Executive Branch has chosen to move forward with waivers because Congress hasn’t acted,” Wise said. “So here's the challenge — Congress, climb back in the ring, duke it out. Pass the legislation that truly leads to education reform and takes away the need for waivers. When you do that, you score a knock out for our kids. There's still time'

 

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Stats That Stick: September 21, 2011

Teachers Detroit plans to cut over the next four years: 40 percent
Detorit Public Schools expects to shed nearly 40 percent of its teachers in the next four years to help close a $327 million deficit, yet projects a loss of just 6,000 students under a state-approved fiscal blueprint, according to the Detroit News. The district would cut more than 1,500 teachers by fall 2015. Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: September 16, 2011

The White House will unveil plans Friday for a research center that aims to infuse more digital learning into the nation's classrooms, according to USA Today. The center, dubbed "Digital Promise," will aid the rapid development of new learning software, educational games and other technologies, in part through helping educators vet what works and what doesn't. Among the new ideas: a "League of Innovative Schools" that will test-drive promising technologies and use its collective.

The Associated Press reports that students in Washington state's third-largest school district are taking a fourth straight day off Friday as opposing sides in a teachers strike meet with a judge, after the instructors defied his order to return to the classroom. The Tacoma School District teachers walked out Tuesday over issues including pay, class size and how job transfers are handled.

The U.S. Department of Education today named 305 schools as 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools based on their overall academic excellence or for their success in closing achievement gaps. The Department will honor the entire 256 public and 49 private schools with their National Blue Ribbon School awards at a conference and awards ceremony Nov. 14-15 in Washington, D.C.

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Morning Announcements: August 25, 2011

Here are your Thursday morning announcements!

A judge ruled yesterday that the New York State Board of Regents erred in its interpretation of a new law on teacher evaluations. The state teachers’ union sued the board in June arguing that the Regents made last minute changes that increased the role of student test scores in teacher evaluations beyond what a 2010 law permitted. Justice Michael C. Lynch of State Supreme Court in Albany sided with the union, but the board plans to appeal, according to the New York Times.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held his first-ever Twitter Town Hall yesterday, answering questions submitted by people via the social-networking site. Duncan discussed waivers to No Child Left Behind, how much testing is too much, and the country’s dropout rate. Check out Education Week’s summary of the key highlights from the Q&A session.

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Morning Announcements: March 22, 2011

Today at the first annual Building a GradNation Summit,  Vice President Joe Biden announced a new campaign calling for states to boost their college graduation rates. The effort includes a $20 million Comprehensive Grant Program for states that carry out plans intended to increase their graduation rates. The administration also released a tool kit of strategies to help governors meet college graduation goals, like stabilizing tuition increases, singling out adults with some college experience but no degree, and making it easier for students to transfer college credits. Read stories by the Associated Press and the New York Times.

Also released at the summit was a report finding that the number of U.S. schools considered "dropout factories" has decreased by 6.4 percent between 2008 and 2009, Education Week reports. Read more about this report in a piece written by the report authors in the Huffington Post. The Hartford Courant also writes about what these report findings mean for Connecticut.

The Contra Costa Times reports on a new study finding that more than 10 percent of California school districts are in financial trouble. 

Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith will resign at the end of this school year according to the Miami Herald.

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Race to the Top of the Tests

While the $3.5 billion Race to the Top program has captured the attention of much of the education world, a smaller grant program might have an equal if not greater impact on schools across the United States. On September 2, the U.S. Education Department awarded a total of $330 million to two consortia of states to develop new assessment systems. If these consortia fulfill their ambitious plans, states will soon transform the way they test students in dramatic ways.

And most of the country will be affected. The larger of the two consortia, the Smarter, Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), led by Washington State, consists of 31 states; the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), led by Florida, consists of 26 states. (The total adds up to more than 50 because states at this point can serve as “advisory” states without committing to a consortium. Several states, including Alaska, Texas, and Virginia, are part of neither.)

In Principles for a Common Assessment System, a brief released in February, the Alliance for Excellent Education argued that current state testing systems place too much emphasis on a single measure, the end-of-year tests, and called for comprehensive systems that can better support instruction and learning. The two consortia’s plans are aligned with many of the principles outlined in that brief.

 

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Morning Announcements: August 24, 2010

Education Week reports that the Department of Education has announced the Race to the Top Round 2 Winners, the dollar amount that each state is slated to receive, and their total point score:

• District of Columbia: $75 million. Score: 450.0
• Florida: $700 million. Score: 452.4
• Georgia: $400 million. Score: 446.4 
• Hawaii: $75 million. Score: 462.4
• Maryland: $250 million. Score: 450.0
• Massachusetts: $250 million. Score: 471.0 
• New York: $700 million. Score: 464.8
• North Carolina: $400 million. Score: 441.6
• Ohio: $400 million. Score: 440.8
• Rhode Island: $75 million. Score: 451.2

Secretary Duncan’s plans to turnaround 1,000 schools a year using federal stimulus money are delayed due to stalled negotiations among federal regulators, state officials and local educators, reports the New York Times.

The Chicago Tribune reports that fifteen Chicago Public Schools plan to add ninety minutes to the schedule using online courses and nonteachers. The extra time will be tacked on to the end of the school day and be split evenly between math and reading.

Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett delivers the state’s first State of Education address and calls for linking teacher pay to student performance.

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