Afternoon announcements: Sidwell School does not employ armed guards

A National Rifle Association ad with unfounded claims that the private school President Obama’s children attend employs armed guards has caused a stir in Washington today. The school has no armed guards. Washington Post

Classroom learning is changing, and it’s due in large part to a revolution that’s taking place in teacher training. This feature story is a good read. Stanford Social Innovation Review

The Common Core State Standards will help address education equity, but it will not solve the problem of providing equal educational opportunities to all students. Quick & the Ed

Montana’s high school graduation rates are on the rise, and their dropout rates are declining. Education Week
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Afternoon announcements: Fiscal cliff deal may still leave education funding on the edge

A deal to avoid going off the ‘fiscal cliff’ has been reached… kinda. While the kinds are being worked out, how does the current deal affect K-12 education? Education Week

School districts and high schools nation-wide are undergoing major changes – in how teaching is done, the emphasis on technology and raising standards. Some of the biggest trends to look for in high school education in 2013 include blinded learning, flipped classrooms, and new standards. High School Notes

Some teenagers are foregoing higher education to cash in on the oil boom in Montana. Salaries can start at $50,000 a year. New York Times

D.C. parents are up-in-arms over Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s proposal to close 20 city schools this fall. Parents are organizing recruiting efforts to increase enrollment numbers in the hope to keep some of the schools open. Washington Post

Angelica Gonzales graduated at the top of her high school class and headed off to one of the nation’s top universities. Four years later she is back home, without a degree. Research shows that lower income students are falling behind their more affluent peers. Watch this video. New York Times Read Entire Post

Keep an Eye on Montana

During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I focused a lot on international academic comparisons and what “training practices" the US can learn to improve students' academic performance. Yet just shuttle from Heathrow to Helena to see both commitment and efforts that show how American students can be on the winner's podium.

Recently, I attended the Graduation Matters Montana Summer Summit organized by Montana State Superintendent Denise Juneau and the Office of Public Instruction. I'm always impressed when 170 educators and business leaders give up part of their summer to spend several days focusing on cutting the state's dropout rate.

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Stats That Stick: November 16, 2011

Here are this week's Stats That Stick courtesy of our policy intern, Bill DeBaun:

Number of finalists receiving 2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) grants from the U.S. Department of Education: 23
587 applicants were competing for almost $150 million in funding. This is the second year of the i3 grant competition, which funds innovative and promising education strategies that have a good record of success. Last year, 49 grants worth approximately $650 million were awarded. The largest grant awarded this year is likely to go to Old Dominion University Research Foundation, which asked for almost $25 million for a grant “providing high-need middle schools with increased access to challenging math courses.”

Number of states (including DC) that have signed on to the Common Core State Standards Initiative: 47
Montana became the 47th state (including the District of Columbia) to support the English/language arts and math common core state standards on November 4. That number almost dropped back to 46 less than a week later, but Alabama’s State Board of Education passed a resolution by a 6–3 vote reaffirming its commitment to the standards.

Price poor families will pay for broadband internet service under an initiative from the FCC: $9.95 per month
One-third, or approximately 35 million, of American households do not have access to broadband internet. Starting next summer under the Connect-to-Compete initiative, homes with children eligible for free school lunches will also be eligible to receive broadband internet at a discounted rate for two years. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “cobbled together” the deal, which includes all of the nation’s major cable companies. "The broadband adoption gap in the U.S. is very large, and the costs of digital exclusion are high and getting higher," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said.

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Morning Announcements: November 11, 2011

This morning's announcements come to you courtesy of Alliance Policy Intern Bill DeBaun:

Good morning and happy Veterans Day, everyone. Before I get into the announcements, we here at the Alliance for Excellent Education want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our veterans and men and women in uniform. We remember your personal sacrifices on behalf of the United States of America and her citizens and are grateful for the freedoms and opportunities those sacrifices have earned for all of us.

It’s a relatively light day in the world of education news, but let’s get down to it.

And Montana makes 47. The Billings Gazette reports that Montana has adopted the common core state standards. With Montana now on board, a total of 46 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a common set of educational standards for K–12 English language arts and mathematics that are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to succeed in college and a career.

Alabama’s State Board of Education has decided to keep the state involved in the Common Core Standards Initiative. The Montgomery Advertiser describes the 6–3 vote in support of the national set of math and English standards for students.

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Morning Announcements: August 6, 2010

An Education Week article takes a look at the challenges facing rural schools and communities. In the story, the research director for Rural School and Community Trust is quoted as saying, “Rural schools, on average, face higher concentrations of the challenges that make schools more difficult to staff than do their counterparts in other locales.”

According to a new Associated Press-Univision poll, many Spanish-speaking parents are having trouble helping their children with homework or communicating with U.S. teachers as English-immersion classes proliferate in K-12.

A proposed program in Idaho would have high school dropouts earning their diplomas through boot camp, reports the Idaho Statesman.

The Baltimore Sun reports that 60 percent of Baltimore's elementary and middle schools failed to reach AYP.

The Montana office of public instruction announced the launch of a new tool that will help schools measure the academic success of students after they graduate from high school, according to the Billings Gazette. The Gazette also reports that Wyoming’s dropout rate is getting better.  The rate used in the state reflects the number of students who disenroll from school in grades nine through 12 during one year and is calculated from the most recent set of data available.

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Morning Announcements: August 5, 2010

Yesterday the U.S. Senate cleared the way for a $26-billion aid package for cash-strapped states; $10 billion would go towards retaining teachers while $16 billion would help states close budget deficits, the New York Times reports.

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday that 49 districts, schools, and nonprofits won a total of $650 million in Investing in Innovation (I3) grants. Education Week reports that the winners will focus their work in 250 different project locations spanning 42 states plus the District of Columbia, and 37 percent say they intend to serve rural school districts.

An editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser calls for Congress to change not scrap No Child Left Behind.

The Billings Gazette editorial staff calls for community members to come together to prevent high school dropouts.

In North Carolina, the Chamber of Commerce is holding an education summit on how to promote public schools through businesses.

High school students in Utah have the opportunity to take the ACT college admission test this school year free of charge. The Salt Lake Tribune reports this is part of a state pilot program to promote college and career readiness.

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Morning Announcements: July 23, 2010

According to the College Board, the United States has dropped back from first place to twelfth place among 36 other developed nations in the number of 25- to 34 year olds with college degrees.
 
Summer break is no longer a luxury that American school children can afford, according to a recent story in TIME Magazine.

Vermont considers joining a group of 30 other states called the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium which aims to develop tests that better reflect student and school progress.

Hawaii public schools will roll out online testing for reading and math proficiency this fall and for the first time students will be able to take the test up to three times, using their best score to gauge what they are learning in the classroom, according to the Star Advertiser.

The Boston Herald reports that the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has approved restrictions for any virtual schools that want to open in the state.

Montana will use $11.5 million in federal grants to turn around seven of the state’s lowest performing schools including  four high schools and two elementary schools.

The Virginia Board of Education takes a fresh look at the state’s teacher accountability provisions including teacher evaluations that take into account student growth.

 

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