Morning Announcements: May 4, 2012

Happy Friday! We won’t hold you up from enjoying your weekend sooner, so here are the latest education headlines. Zip through them and you’re one step closer to zipping through your day and work week!

California Watch continues the analysis of special education in the American school system. After failing for the eighth straight year to meet service delivery targets for special education, Los Angeles Unified School District has begun interviewing staff to understand why records indicate thousands of students with disabilities are not receiving their prescribed services.

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.

Afternoon Announcements: April 19, 2012

Good Afternoon! Here are your latest headlines in education:

According to Education Week, most of the dozen states that have already gotten wiggle room from the No Child Left Behind Act don't have very good plans in place when it comes to a key piece of the U.S. Department of Education's requirements for turning around low-performing schools: extending learning time. This assessment comes from a new report by the Center for American Progress.

From the Washington Post, Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson has introduced a new five-year plan that calls for higher-achieving public schools with longer days and better graduation rates, but she warned that paying for improvements will require closing some campuses.

Morning Announcements: March 21, 2012

It’s the middle of the week. You’re almost there. Keep yourself motivated with the latest in education news.

Republican Congressman John Kline of Minnesota, who serves as the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, wants to see Congress put more money into state grants for special education. Education Week reports that the sent a letter to the leading lawmakers on the House panel that oversees K-12 spending

Afternoon Announcements: January 25, 2012

It's ok. We know you were up late causing havoc at State of the Union watch parties; but hopefully you won our State of the Union Bingo. So as you sluggishly trod your way through Wednesday, ease through the afternoon with news on education.

Across the country, changes in teacher evaluation have meant that teacher tenure is no longer a guarantee. As the Associated Press reports, a few states have essentially nullified tenure protections altogether. An analysis released by the National Council on Teacher Quality shows that qualifications for teacher tenure are getting a makeover.

Afternoon Announcements: January 4, 2012

It's the middle of the week so pat yourself on the back for your endurance thus far and enjoy the latest in educational news.

In Boston, parents of special needs children have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the Boston public school system has frequently delayed evaluations and placements of preschool children in need of special education. The Boston Globe reports that the lawsuits asserts that delays have left some special-needs children without services for months which has caused regression in developmental progress.

New Straight A's Issue Now Online

The newest version of the Alliance's Straight A's newsletter is now online.

Articles in this issue focus on

• The bill passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act;
• Efforts underway in New York City, Wyoming, and Ohio to reduce the need for remedial courses among college students;
• Hidden costs of community colleges; and
• Dropout rates among students in special education and the economic benefits associated with special education students who graduate from high school.

Links to each of these articles appear below. For a free email subscription to Straight A's, join the Alliance's mailing list.

Afternoon Announcements: October 18, 2011

Education Daily reports on a National Center for Education Statistics's (NCES) study that finds 1 in 10 new teachers leaves after first year. But what can be done to help them stay? While the NCES study does not offer policy recommendations, a new brief  from the Alliance for Excellent Education calls for induction supports that provide coaching and guidance by well-trained mentors and increased opportunities for novice educators to collaborate with colleagues.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), the chairman and top Republican, respectively, on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, announced Monday an agreement to move forward on bipartisan legislation to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Also, Education Week reports that a last-minute change to draft language to rewrite NCLB included scaling back the teacher evaluation mandate.

Read the rest of today's top education headlines below the jump.

Morning Announcements: August 3, 2011

The Washington Post reports that the domestic spending cuts contemplated in the debt-ceiling deal are sure to compound the dire fiscal situation confronting the states, which already are reducing jobs and slashing once-untouchable programs to balance their budgets.

The Christian Science Monitor features an article along the same lines, saying that federal spending cuts mean fewer dollars will flow to the states for unemployment benefits, education, health care, and other state-run programs.

The California Dream Act offers a young illegal immigrant a morale boost, writes the Los Angeles Times.

Kentucky reports a 76 percent high school graduation rate, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

According to the Denver Post, major education groups in Colorado back proposed state tax hike for K–12 education.

Connecticut education officials are considering seeking a waiver to requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, reports the Connecticut Mirror.

Morning Announcements: June 28, 2011

The New York Times reports 165 Washington teachers were fired last year based on a pioneering evaluation system that places significant emphasis on classroom observations; next month, 200 to 600 of the city’s 4,200 educators are expected to get similar bad news, in the nation’s highest rate of dismissal for poor performance.

In a letter to state superintendents, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stresses testing integrity, according to the Baltimore Sun.

A recent Education Week blog post begins with, “Teachers from across northwestern Maryland arrived here Monday on buses and in carpools, many of them lugging thick binders containing the ‘common standards’ recently adopted by their state. Their mission: to make sense of those standards, figure out how to apply them in their classrooms, and bring those lessons back to their schools.” Read the complete post.