Morning Announcements: July 6, 2011

Illinois high school juniors will no longer be tested on writing skills during the state's standardized tests every spring, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution elaborates on the investigation into Atlanta Public Schools’ cheating.

More states are defiant on NCLB compliance; some say they’ll flout the 2014 deadline on AYP, writes Education Week.

When asked about his role in overhauling England’s national history curriculum, famed historian Simon Schama understates his contributions by telling the Huffington Post, “It’s not a very sexy field.”

Morning Announcements: July 20, 2010

A U.S. House of Representative panel decides to extend the Race to Top program for an additional year. Education Week reports, “Although the subcommittee’s move is an important first step, it is unclear whether the Race to the Top extension will make it into the final spending bill.”

Illinois education officials cancel state writing test for elementary and junior high students at a chance to save $3.5 million this year.

According to Inside Higher Ed, The Council of Chief State School Officers and the State Higher Education Executive Officers conducted their first-ever joint meeting last Friday to discuss the bridge from K-12 to higher education, common standards, and other issues.

Support for common core state standards grows in Massachusetts.

Maine shifts to the “cohort method” for calculating graduation rates, in accordance with No Child Left Behind, and finds that their graduations rates dipped between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years.