Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/5/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

 

El Dorado CountyBoard hires Ed Manansala, a former superintendent of St. Hope schools | The Sacramento Bee

El Dorado County education board taps new schools chief | The Sacramento Bee: El Dorado County education board taps new schools chiefEd Manansala was named Tuesday as the new El Dorado County superintendent of schools, replacing a predecessor who resigned in November after his second arrest for allegedly driving under the influence.Manansala, 46, is a former superintendent of St. Hope schools in S

by mike simpson / 1min 

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools: Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt OutOkay.  If this isn’t enough to convince you that Corporate Opt-Out is real and is trying to co-opt the grassroots opt-out movement, I don’t know what will:This Saturday, Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) will host an “Opt-Out Campaign Launch” with the Center for Collaborative Education– an organizati

by mike simpson / 24min 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.': Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'"The Law Department holds its employees to the absolute highest professional and ethical standards and does not tolerate any action that would call into question the integrity of the lawyers who ser

by mike simpson / 39min 

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com: The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schoolsA charter-school bubble is growing, and it's young black kids in cities who are most in dangerA new study warns that we may be headed towards a charter school “bubble.” Jennifer Berkshire of the Edushyster blog s

by mike simpson / 1h 

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and LostHere is the story of David Suker, a US Army veteran who taught at-risk students for 14 years, and was removed from a Bronx GED classroom in December 2011 after he’d spoken out about the horrendous conditions e

by mike simpson / 2h 

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week: INSIDE THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACTThe year-end passage and signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act represents more than just a rare bipartisan agreement on the part of the nation’s chronically polarized policymakers. For the first time in more than a decade—and a half-century after enactment of the country’s main K-12 law—Congress has re

by mike simpson / 2h 

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?: 4 years late[r] – The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disasterAccording to a press advisory issues earlier today, the Connecticut Education Association will ho

by mike simpson / 2h 

Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD - LA School Report

Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD - LA School Report: Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSDThe school board vote was simple, but the matter is far more complex, drawing a focus to an issue many within LA Unified find uncomfortable to talk about: classism.The issues involved in the Playa Vista Elementary Schooldispute are a microcosm of co

by mike simpson / 3h 

He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post

He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for real - The Washington Post: He’s acting, but the nation’s new education secretary is for realJohn B. King, Jr. settled into the rocking chair before a group of cross-legged kindergartners and fielded a question from a little boy.“Wait, are you a president?” the boy asked the grown-up in the grey suit, who was escorted into their small cl

by mike simpson / 4h 

Sacramento City School Board—A Teacher on the School Board | Ellen Cochrane

Sacramento City School Board—Area Two Highlights 2015 | Ellen Cochrane: Sacramento City School Board—Area Two Highlights 2015A Teacher on the School BoardEllen CochraneSacramento City School BoardTrustee Area 2The New Year holds much promise for Sac City, as well as many challenges. It seems that better economic times will offer a boost to the districts finances. However, the responsibilities of t

by mike simpson / 5h 

John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary - Politics K-12 - Education Week

John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education Secretary - Politics K-12 - Education Week: John King Talks ESSA, Priorities for 2016, and Being an 'Acting' Education SecretaryJohn King, the newly minted acting education secretary, dropped by Joanne Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres in Montgomery County, Md., to welcome students back from the holiday break, highlig

by mike simpson / 5h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Friedrichs for Dummies

CURMUDGUCATION: Friedrichs for Dummies:Friedrichs for DummiesSo you've been hearing about Friedrichs vs California Teachers Association, but not paying close attention. You know the unions are upset about it (but when aren't the unions upset about something), and you've heard that the Supreme Court is going to hear it, but you've put off learning more because it all seems so contentious and does a

by mike simpson / 7h 

New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education - Wait What?

New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of Education - Wait What?: New State Board of Education member collects multi-million dollar contract via State Board of EducationEthics for public officials?  Not so much.One of Governor Dannel Malloy’s recent appointees to the Connecticut State Board of Education is not only a representative of the charter

by mike simpson / 7h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rauner tells POLITICO: 'I wasn't in Cuba. I was in, um...Europe.'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rauner tells POLITICO: 'I wasn't in Cuba. I was in, um...Europe.': Rauner tells POLITICO: 'I wasn't in Cuba. I was in, um...Europe.'“You’d be amazed at what we ate. I’m not going to tell you that.” -- Gov. RaunerNatasha Korecki is one of my favorite reporters on the Chicago scene. I peruse her Illinois Playbook in POLITICO most mornings over breakfast. You should too

by mike simpson / 7h 

No Child Left Behind is Gone. But What Does the New Ed Law Mean for K-12 Funding? - Inside Philanthropy

No Child Left Behind is Gone. But What Does the New Ed Law Mean for K-12 Funding? - Inside Philanthropy: Fundraising Intelligence - Inside Philanthropy: No Child Left Behind is Gone. But What Does the New Ed Law Mean for K-12 Funding?The latest version of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act was recently signed into law by President Obama. The new law, christened the Every Student Su

by mike simpson / 7h 

New Study Explores How New Orleans Families Choose Between Public and Private Schools | WWNO

New Study Explores How New Orleans Families Choose Between Public and Private Schools | WWNO: New Study Explores How New Orleans Families Choose Between Public and Private SchoolsWhen low-income students apply to school in New Orleans, they have three options: a handful of traditional public schools, mostly charter public schools, and private schools with voucher programs. How do these students an

by mike simpson / 7h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Magic of Community History-What Test Based Accountability and School Closings Ruined in the Bronx

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Magic of Community History-What Test Based Accountability and School Closings Ruined in the Bronx: The Magic of Community History-What Test Based Accountability and School Closings Ruined in the BronxYesterday, while going through my files to do the footnotes for a book of African American Bronx oral histories I was completing, I came upon a document that filled me with

by mike simpson / 7h 

Common Core eases literary classics to the sidelines :: SI&A Cabinet Report

Common Core eases literary classics to the sidelines :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: Common Core eases literary classics to the sidelines(Wash.) In some schools where Common Core rules the curriculum, only parts of Joseph Heller’s classic tale of a struggle and disillusionment is likely read, with the themes of “Catch-22” taught in tandem w

by mike simpson / 7h 

Flawed Assumptions about School Reform Strengthening the U.S. Economy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Flawed Assumptions about School Reform Strengthening the U.S. Economy | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Flawed Assumptions about School Reform Strengthening the U.S. EconomyNYT: "While graduating from college in unprecedented numbers, [Millennials] are earning between 5 and 9 percent less (after adjusting for inflation) than what their elders were receiving at similar poi

by mike simpson / 8h 

We are opting our first grade son out of the MAP test—here’s our letter explaining why | I AM AN EDUCATOR

We are opting our first grade son out of the MAP test—here’s our letter explaining why | I AM AN EDUCATOR: We are opting our first grade son out of the MAP test—here’s our letter explaining whyThe infamous MAP test is set to be administered in my son’s school this week. The MAP test is a computerized test meant to measure students in math and reading. Seattle Public Schools initially required MAP

by mike simpson / 8h 

Like NCLB, new education law makes promises that will be hard to fulfill | EdSource

Like NCLB, new education law makes promises that will be hard to fulfill | EdSource: Like NCLB, new education law makes promises that will be hard to fulfillThe profound question that anyone concerned about our children’s future – and the nation’s – is whether the Every Student Succeeds Act that President Barack Obama just signed will be any more successful than the law it replaced in realizing it

by mike simpson / 8h 

Bradley Foundation’s Radical Education Privatization Campaign Rolls On | One Wisconsin Now

Bradley Foundation’s Radical Education Privatization Campaign Rolls On | One Wisconsin Now: Bradley Foundation’s Radical Education Privatization Campaign Rolls OnUpdated Research Finds Over 130 Organizations Part of $108 Million-Plus Propaganda CampaignMADISON, Wis. — In recent years, the unaccountable private school voucher program dramatically expanded in Wisconsin while state public schools suf

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mom: What do I expect from my children’s elementary school? Certainly not this. - The Washington Post

Mom: What do I expect from my children’s elementary school? Certainly not this. - The Washington Post: Mom: What do I expect from my children’s elementary school? Certainly not this.Laura Eberhart Goodman  is a former classroom teacher and writer on “The Synapse” on Medium. Her work has been published on the YouShare Project, and in the upcoming IAGC (Illinois Association for Gifted Children) annu

by mike simpson / 8h 

Tennessee's York Institute Shows How Education Can Improve the Quality of Life in Rural America - The Atlantic

Tennessee's York Institute Shows How Education Can Improve the Quality of Life in Rural America - The Atlantic: Salvaging Education in Rural AmericaRural towns struggle with widespread poverty, limited opportunity, and low college-attendance rates. What role do schools play in improving the quality of life?Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute sits in the heart of Fentress County, Tennessee, high o

by mike simpson / 8h 

Who profits from charter schools?

Letter | Who profits from charter schools?:  Who profits from charter schools?In regards to "Governor makes pitch on charter schools to pastors" (Dec. 31), before anyone accepts the arguments of the deceptively entitled "school choice" advocates (i.e. pro-charter and pro-voucher), I urge them to question the underlying motives of this movement - and to dig out the data.A few ye

by mike simpson / 9h 

Education leaders mourn loss of inspirational Red Deer teacher Joe Bower | Edmonton Journal

Education leaders mourn loss of inspirational Red Deer teacher Joe Bower | Edmonton Journal:Education leaders mourn loss of inspirational Red Deer teacher Joe BowerDiane Ravitch, professor of education at New York University: “He was one of those educators that you wish were in charge of an entire state or nation. He was kind, caring, compassionate, and loved children.”Members of Alberta’s educati

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

ALEC Education Task Force - SourceWatch

ALEC Education Task Force - SourceWatch: ALEC Education Task Force - SourceWatch:About ALECALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporat

1 by mike simpson / 20h 

Choosing Democracy: Business "Leaders" Fail at Public Education

Choosing Democracy: Business "Leaders" Fail at Public Education: Business "Leaders" Fail at Public EducationDiane Ravitch. Let’s state a simple fact: there is NO EVIDENCE that Common Core will improve education or test scores. It was launched in 2010. It has been tested in many states, and test scores have collapsed. Why the stubborn insistence that it will raise American test

1 by mike simpson / 20h 

About That Fortune Article on Common Core… | deutsch29

About That Fortune Article on Common Core… | deutsch29: About That Fortune Article on Common Core…I have been reading Peter Elkind’s January 01, 2016, article in Fortune on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).Elkind’s work is a study in foolishness. Basically, he demonstrates the unfounded faith that powerful individuals whose lives only skirt the worlds of whose with children in public schools

1 by mike simpson / 20h 

Success Academy Principal Who Created ‘Got to Go’ List Takes Leave - The New York Times

Success Academy Principal Who Created ‘Got to Go’ List Takes Leave - The New York Times: Success Academy Principal Who Created ‘Got to Go’ List Takes LeaveThe principal at a Success Academy charter school who created a “Got to Go” list of difficult students is taking a personal leave of absence, a Success Academy spokeswoman said on Monday.Critics of Success Academy, the high-performing New York C

8 by mike simpson / 21h 

California’s list of poor schools posted again | The Sacramento Bee

California’s list of poor schools posted again | The Sacramento Bee: California’s list of poor schools posted againFacing a lawsuit threat, the state Department of Education has changed its position on posting a list of low-performing schools whose students could be transferred to schools with higher academic test scores.A state “open enrollment law,” enacted in 2010, requires the department to li

2 by mike simpson / 21h 

Who Needs “Education” Anyway? | Save Maine Schools

Who Needs “Education” Anyway? | Save Maine Schools: Who Needs “Education” Anyway?I’m telling you – these guys just keep letting the cat out of the bag.Jamie Merisotis, who makes $619,334 a year as CEO of the Lumina Foundation, recently suggested in this article that we combine the U.S. Department of Education with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor and the

1 by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/4/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMRIP JOE BOWERHis Blog – For the Love of Learning There was little due diligence on new education law, but there will be plenty for indigestion — Opinion — Bangor Daily News — BDN MaineThere was little due diligence on new education law, but there will be plenty for indigestion — Opinion — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine: There was little due diligence on new education law, but the

2 by mike simpson / 23h

El Dorado CountyBoard hires Ed Manansala, a former superintendent of St. Hope schools | The Sacramento Bee

El Dorado County education board taps new schools chief | The Sacramento Bee:

El Dorado County education board taps new schools chief

Ed Manansala was named Tuesday as the new El Dorado County superintendent of schools, replacing a predecessor who resigned in November after his second arrest for allegedly driving under the influence.

Manansala, 46, is a former superintendent of St. Hope schools in Sacramento and most recently has worked as deputy superintendent of educational services for the El Dorado County Office of Education. Manansala started Tuesday in the new job after the El Dorado County Board of Education selected him at its regular board meeting.

Ed Manansala El Dorado County Office of Education

He replaces Jeremy Meyers, 45, who resigned Nov. 14 after two arrests on suspicion of drunken driving last year. Manansala will complete Meyers’ elected four-year term, which ends Jan. 7, 2019.

As county schools superintendent, Manansala will be responsible for fiscal oversight of El Dorado County school districts. He will lead the County Office of Education, which has 412 students at five schools. Those include charter schools and campuses that provide special education, adult education and educational programs for incarcerated youth. The office also provides payroll, printing and other administrative services to the county’s 15 small school districts.

Manansala will be paid a $196,837 annual salary and have an expense allowance of $7,600 a year, according to Dina Gentry, El Dorado County Office of Education spokeswoman.

“El Dorado County is a special place where everyone in the community is truly committed toEl Dorado County education board taps new schools chief | The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article53196920.html#storylink=cpy

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools:

Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out

Okay.  If this isn’t enough to convince you that Corporate Opt-Out is real and is trying to co-opt the grassroots opt-out movement, I don’t know what will:

This Saturday, Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) will host an “Opt-Out Campaign Launch” with the Center for Collaborative Education– an organization funded by the Gates Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, IBM, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Yes – you read that right. Gates is helping to sponsor an Opt-Out event.

Several months ago, in a post called “Cashing in on Opt-Out,” I tried to show that the testing and ed-tech industries have long been aware of an impending shift away from the big, end-of-year high stakes test toward systems of embedded, competency-based testing, where grade levels no longer matter.

If you’ve not yet seen it, please read this article by former Gates executive and venture capitalist Tom Vander Ark, called “The End of the Big Test: Moving to Competency-Based Policy,” which spells out this agenda in detail.

Then check out this document and look carefully at the section below, where standardized tests are predicted to be “obsolete” by the year 2017:

Here’s what it boils down to:

Corporate Reformers – including Gates – don’t want end-of-year Warning: Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out | Save Maine Schools:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.':

Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.'

"The Law Department holds its employees to the absolute highest professional and ethical standards and does not tolerate any action that would call into question the integrity of the lawyers who serve and represent the City of Chicago." -- City Hall Liar in Chief, Bill McCaffrey

Rahm probably should have stayed in Cuba. I'm sure his ratings are higher than 18% in Havana.

Instead he came home to Chicago only to find the hot mess he created has gotten hotter and messier. He also found that the cover-up of yet another police killing on his watch may lead to the federal probe moving up the ladder to City Hall and closer to him.

Judge order retrial in shooting case of Darius Pinex.

Yesterday U.S. District JudgeEdmond Chang ruled that a lawyer for the city intentionally misled the court when he concealed a key recording of a police radio dispatch to Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm to Atty Gen. Lynch: 'But you said fed probe wouldn't go any higher than CPD.':

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com:

The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools

A charter-school bubble is growing, and it's young black kids in cities who are most in danger

A new study warns that we may be headed towards a charter school “bubble.” Jennifer Berkshire of the Edushyster blog spoke with one its authors, Preston Green, who is also the John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

It’s unusual to see the words “hair-raising” and “academic study” in tandem, but your new study merits that marriage. You and your co-authors make the case that, just as with subprime mortgages, the federal government is encouraging the expansion of charter schools with little oversight, and the result could be a charter school “bubble” that blows up in urban communities. Do I have it right?

The problem of subprime mortgages began in part because the government tried to increase homeownership for poor people and minorities by enabling private entities to offer more mortgages without assuming the risk. Under the old system, the mortgage originator was still at risk if the mortgage went into default. With subprime, they were able to spread that risk by selling the mortgages on the secondary market. You had all these mortgage originators that could issue more mortgages without careful screening because they no longer had skin in the game. Now how are charter schools similar to subprime? In the charter school context, charter school authorizers are like mortgage originators.

There’s a great moment in the new movie “The Big Short” when Selena Gomez turns to the camera and explains to the world what collateralized debt obligations are. Here’s your opportunity to do the same, but for the convoluted world of charter school authorizing.

Promoters of charter school expansion are calling for an increase in independent authorizers, such as nonprofits and universities. Supporters of charter school The charter-school scam deepens: The sick new “bubble” that could explode urban schools - Salon.com:

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost

NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost:

The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost

Here is the story of David Suker, a US Army veteran who taught at-risk students for 14 years, and was removed from a Bronx GED classroom in December 2011 after he’d spoken out about the horrendous conditions experienced by the students there. As reported by Sue Edelman in the NY Post, DOE spent four years and more than $1 million trying to fire him, a case that they lost at every level; first the arbitrator, then at the State Supreme Court level, and at the Appellate Court.  Now yet another arbitrator has ordered him reinstated, and that he be given $260,000 in back pay, though he has to pay a $7000 fine.

The saga of my current ordeal, the three year termination of my ability to teach in NYC schools, and subsequent reinstatement by some of the highest courts in New York, specifically the New York State Supreme Court and the Appellate Division, oddly began back in August of 2008 on my way to the Democratic National Convention in Denver to witness history. Barack Obama was being nominated, and as a licensed high school social studies teacher, I wanted to say that I was there. Well that didn't happen.

While riding my Vespa Scooter to the convention from New York City, about 100 miles from Denver I was blindsided by an 18 wheeler from behind. It's safe to say I was lucky that I escaped with my life -- a broken jaw, some really bad scrapes and nothing more. I took three months off to recuperate, but when I came back to teach I was placed in a stairwell, outside of the main office, where the main office to my program, GED-Plus was located, with no teaching responsibilities. At the time I thought this was odd, but I was just glad I was alive and back to making a living. I didn't view this as punishment, but now with hindsight, I see how vindictive this system can be.

The reason I was sitting in the stairwell – I sat there for over a month before the administration of GED-Plus grudgingly sent me back to my site to teach my GED students -- had nothing to do with my competency but did have everything to do with my big mouth. You see, my principal, Robert Zweig, had been appointed Deputy Superintendent to District 79 (the district composed of alternative high schools and programs) a year previous, but his appointment was held up because of  allegations that he had a liaison with an assistant principal. The investigation took about a year and I'm pretty sure he was cleared, but I suspect that now he was in a position of even more power, he felt emboldened to go after those teachers who had been speaking out about him and his leadership of the program.

The previous incarnation of GED-Plus was called OES, or Offsite Educational Services, and that was closed in June of 2007. Principal Zweig was promoted, the teachers had to reapply for their jobs, and we were all very nervous. Few people spoke out, but I did and now I see the price NYC Public School Parents: The Occupy Activist Teacher that the DOE Spent $1,000,000 to Try to Fire and Lost:

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week

Inside the Every Student Succeeds Act - Education Week:

INSIDE THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT

The year-end passage and signing of the Every Student Succeeds Act represents more than just a rare bipartisan agreement on the part of the nation’s chronically polarized policymakers. For the first time in more than a decade—and a half-century after enactment of the country’s main K-12 law—Congress has redefined the federal role in elementary and secondary education. And it’s done so in a way that aims to enhance the authority of states and school districts that had long chafed at the strictures of ESSA’s predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act. 

Now comes the really hard part: implementation. This special report on ESSA looks at what the law will mean for virtually every aspect of public schooling when it takes full effect in the 2017-18 academic year. Topics include accountability and testing, teacher quality, research, regulation, funding, early-childhood education, and thorny issues involving student groups that often lag behind their peers.

Under ESSA, States, Districts to Share More Power

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the latest version of the nation’s main K-12 law, aims to scale back the hands-on federal role in elementary and secondary education.

• The Every Student Succeeds Act: Explained

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

IMPLEMENTATION

ESSA Regulatory Machinery Starting to Crank Up

With the ink barely dry on the Every Student Succeeds Act, the U.S. Department of Education begins the tricky process of setting the course for implementation.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Funding Flexibility Enhanced Under New K-12 Law

ESSA, the newly reauthorized version of the ESEA, makes changes in how schools can use money set aside for economically disadvantaged students.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

TEACHING

ESSA Loosens Reins on Teacher Evaluations, Qualifications

The new law could embolden some states to revise or abandon their current methods for rating teachers.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

ESSA Law Broadens Definition of School Success

The new law requires states to measure at least one nonacademic factor, such as student engagement, when tracking schools' performance.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

TESTING

ESSA's Flexibility on Assessment Elicits Qualms From Testing Experts

The Every Student Succeeds Act allows states and districts to cobble scores from interim assessments into a single, summative score, but some experts worry that will make the results less valid.

December 18, 2015 - Education Week

Will States Swap Standards-Based Tests for SAT, ACT?

An ESSA provision that lets states use college-entrance exams to measure student achievement could spur a profound shift in high school testing.

January 4, 2016 - Education Week

RESEARCH

NCLB Rewrite Sets New Path on School Research

The Every Student Succeeds Act takes a more flexible, more nuanced approach to assessing the research evidence for educational programs and policies.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

States, Districts to Call Shots on Turnarounds Under ESSA

The new federal K-12 law still requires states to identify their worst-performing schools, but states and districts have great leeway in how to turn them around.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

CLASSROOM AND CURRICULUM

ESSA Reins In, Reshapes Federal Role in Literacy

The new program is smaller and less prescriptive than Reading First, and it can be applied to students of all ages.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

School Systems Get More Say on STEM Education

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states and districts get more leeway—and more options—on funding STEM programs.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Arts Learning Keeps Toehold in ESSA

Unlike earlier proposals in Congress, the new law includes language that cements states' obligation to support arts education.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

Law Adds to Pre-K's Stature as Federal-State Priority

The Every Student Succeeds Act locks into law a $250 million grant program to support states as they develop preschool programs and directs money to state early-childhood literacy efforts.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

ELL Advocates Hopeful and Wary of New Federal K-12 Law

The new law will bring a number of changes to ELL policy that has some advocates and educators worried about the 5 million and growing population of English-learners.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

Special Education Advocates Gear Up for ESSA Implementation

Advocates for students with disabilities say they'll want to be at the table as states hammer out plans to comply with the new federal education law.

January 5, 2016 - Education Week

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?:

4 years late[r] – The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster

According to a press advisory issues earlier today, the Connecticut Education Association will hold a press conference at 11am at the Legislative Office Building on Thursday, January 7, 2016 to call on Governor Dannel Malloy and the Connecticut General Assembly to “join with the majority of states in the U.S. that have replaced the federally-sponsored SBAC or PARCC tests with better, more authentic and effective assessment programs.”

If the announcement is as impressive as suggested, it would mean that the leadership of Connecticut’s teacher unions have finally moved 180 degrees from the position they held on January 25, 2012 when the CEA and AFT joined with the other members of Governor Malloy’s Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) to approve the so-called “teacher evaluation framework” that inappropriately and unfairly mandates that student’s standardized test scores be a major factor in the teacher evaluation process.

The CT Mirror reported on the development that fateful day in January 2012 in an article entitled Coming soon: teacher report cards based on student performance;

Years of disagreement have stalled efforts to grade teachers and dismiss those who are ineffective. That all changed Wednesday when a group of educators — including teachers’ unions, superintendent and school board groups — agreed on how to properly evaluate teachers…

[…]

“Districts are really going to embrace this,” said Diane Ullman, Superintendent of Schools in Simsbury and a member of the state panel responsible for creating an evaluation process districts must follow. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

The plan calls for student performance and testing to count for half of the 

4 years late[r] - The Connecticut Education Association may finally be standing up against Malloy and Wyman on their teacher evaluation disaster - Wait What?: