Afternoon Announcements: Education Secretary Duncan Calls Shortage of Bandwidth in Schools 'Morally Unacceptable'

Maryland’s low-income students made the most academic progress than any other state’s comparable population in the last eight years, according to a new Education Sector report. “The New State Achievement Gap” looks at how states compare to one another in terms of student achievement. Baltimore Sun

The Oakland Unified School District in California has long been known as a violence-fueled factory, having lost 16,000 of its students since 2000. The district is looking to reinvent itself by turning its 87 schools into “full-service community schools” with staff equipped to help students with social, emotional, physical, and academic needs. Hechinger Report

“Most schools have about as much Internet bandwidth as your house,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said last week at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s 2013 Cable Show. “We are denying our teachers and students the tools they need to be successful. That is educationally unsound and morally unacceptable.” US News & World Report

As the Senate Democrats’ No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation moves forward, Education Week asks and answers five pertinent questions. Politics K-12 Read Entire Post

Six Summer Tips To Tip The Scale For Digital Learning

It's Thursday, and that means it's time to talk digital learning! Today's post comes from Terri Schwartzbeck, Senior Digital Outreach Associate at the Alliance for Excellent Education. 

It’s been a big week for digital learning. Last week, President Obama paid a visit to Mooresville, North Carolina, which is fast becoming a mecca of sorts for proponents of the power of technology to change learning. And today the Associate Press reports that the LEAD Commission is finalizing a five-point plan to speed the adoption of digital learning in schools. Could we be getting close to a tipping point for digital learning to truly make a different in the lives of all students? Here are six steps you can take this summer to help build momentum for digital learning! 

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Afternoon Announcements: Third Bill to Reauthorize ESEA on the Senate Table

There’s no solution in sight to stop student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1. As of Thursday, the Senate deadlocked over the issue while debating competing proposals. Washington Post

The nation’s high school graduation rate has reached the highest in four decades, but there is still work to be done. At its current rate, the percentage of students earning a diploma could surpass the historical high of 77.1% in the next few years. Education Week

Yesterday, President Obama spoke at Mooresville Middle School in Mooresville, North Carolina. He called for increased high-speed internet and wireless access in 99% of schools within five years and showed how Mooresville has improved teaching and learning with the use of digital technology. New York Times

The introduction of a Republican bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) marks the third of its kind in recent days. The House Education Committee plans to consider the bill June 19th. Politics K-12 Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: Obama Calls for Enhanced E-Rate Program, High Speed Internet in All Schools

President Obama spoke at Mooresville Middle School in Mooresville, North Carolina today as part of his Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour. He highlighted the school’s groundbreaking work in digital learning and education technology, with the ultimate goal of increasing high-speed internet access in schools around the country. Alliance president Bob Wise made a statement on the visit. Alliance for Excellent Education

President Obama called for an expansion of the federal E-rate program that would provide high speed internet access in schools across the country. The administration plans to ask the Federal Communications Commission to consider increasing funding to the program, with the goal of providing high-speed broadband and wireless internet access to 99% of schools in the next five years. Politics K-12

Gov. Mike Huckabee, a leading conservative who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, has voiced his support for the Common Core State Standards. He drafted a letter earlier this week to lawmakers in Oklahoma asking them to stick by the standards. The Washington Times

Baltimore County represents the United States as one of the top school districts for graduating students from high school, according to a report released this week by Education Week. The Baltimore Sun Read Entire Post

Beyond the Pop Quiz

It's Thursday, and that means it's time to talk digital learning! Today's post comes from Sandy Hayes, an English teacher in Becker Public Schools, current president of the National Council of Teachers of English, and a member of the Project 24 Team of Experts.

Evaluation, test, critique, measure, grade, feedback, rating, informative, summative, appraisal.  Assessment has become a complex and multi-headed hydra in our classrooms.  As a full-time 8th grade English teacher with 8 days of school remaining, this challenge is certainly in the forefront of my thinking.  How much growth have my students made this year?  How do I know?  What have they learned to do or do better that I haven’t noticed?  Am I looking at the right things?  How could I have done better? What really matters?

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Afternoon Announcements: Delaware Commits $5 Million to Education Technology

The House of Representatives approved a Republican proposal to keep student loan interest rates from doubling in July of this year. It would align student interest rates from year to year with the government’s cost of borrowing. It’s unclear if the Obama administration and the Senate will pass the bill. Washington Post

The highest-poverty schools in Kansas are primed to experience the brunt of budget cuts due to slashed federal education spending. The Kansas State Department described the loss of funding through Title 1 as “major.” Education Week

Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords gave a commencement speech at Bard College this weekend. In it, she urged graduates to “be bold, be courageous, be your best.” New York Times

Delaware lawmakers approved $5 million in education technology in the state’s education budget. The money is nearly divided in half between technology block grants and funds for computers to administer state tests. Delaware Online Read Entire Post

Revitalizing Assessments With Technology

It's Thursday, which means it's time to talk digital learning! The following blog post comes from Erin Frew, Principal of New Tech West High School in Cleveland and one of the Project 24 Team of Experts.

As the principal of New Tech West High School, a Project Based Learning model, in Cleveland, OH, one of my large areas of emphasis has been assessment. Technology can be used to speed the use of formative assessment to guide instruction as well as create spaces for students to imaginatively demonstrate what they have learned through their projects.  Student creations take a variety of forms, whether it is through using photo editing software to create a collage or utilizing a music app to record a song.  

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Afternoon Announcements: Steve Job's Widow Focuses Philanthropy on Education, Conservation

Steve Job’s widow has stepped into the philanthropic spotlight after helping a student become the first person in her family to graduate from college. Laurene Powell Jobs has long supported causes in private, but since the death of her husband, she has gone public with donations to causes that include education. New York Times

President Obama’s commencement speech at Morehouse College inspired more than a few tears as he implored graduates to “keep setting an example.” He reminded the students the importance of being responsible family men and helping those less privileged. New York Times

Digital video has transformed classroom instruction in a way that no other technology has. It has inspired the “flipped classroom” movement and increased the breadth and depth of knowledge for teachers and students. Education Week

A California school district utilizes digital curriculum to English-language learners in their pursuit of mastery. They have found, however, that there is a lack of curriculum in this area. Education Week Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: Microsoft Donates $1 Million to Expand Blended Learning in DC

For the Common Core to succeed, it must overcome seven challenges, one noted education writer posits. No matter what, he says, states should move toward better instruction and more learning. Eduwonk

Microsoft has donated $1 million to help DC schools integrate and expand blended learning programs. Blended learning refers to the combination of online learning and traditional classroom instruction. The donation will expand the Education Innovation Fellowship, a DC-based program that “exposes teachers to the latest thinking in the field and then encourages them to adapt those ideas into their own classrooms.” Washington Post

If high school students began going through college and career counseling in the 9th grade, would it make a difference in college enrollment rates? A new report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling shows it would make a big difference in students’ likelihood of enrolling in college. Education Week

Digital learning has been touted as a means of improving equity in education for all students. One group in particular that may benefit from it is students with learning disabilities. One program in California is seeing an increased number of these students participate in college courses through the use of digital technology. Homeroom Read Entire Post

Afternoon Announcements: Students in Rural Alaska Fight to Keep School Open

Tom Vander Ark gives his take on why we need the Common Core State Standards and better tests in our nation’s schools. He calls both “a big step forward.”  Huffington Post

Four rural Alaskan schools were shut down this year, and a fifth was scheduled to follow suit. The students at the school rallied together, determined not to let another shutdown happen. They’ve pledged to contribute $18,000 to keep the school open, using funds primarily from ice cream sales at the student store. It doesn’t get more inspiring than this. Alaska Dispatch

Is Google Glass the future of education? Is it possible to imagine a future where students and teachers where the new Google glasses technology, using it to advance teaching and learning? The Kansas City Star

According to new state-by-state analysis of recent data on graduation rates for students with learning disabilities, states are struggling to reach the national graduation rate average of 68 percent for students in that category. Education Week Read Entire Post