Rural Education: Examining Capacity Challenges That Influence Educator Effectiveness

Posted on May 22, 2014May 22, 2014 by coreeducation

Jane Best and Courtney Cohen of McREL have written a helpful document looking at some of the hot button education issues today, but with a unique focus on rural education. While a quarter of all American students are enrolled in rural public schools, many rural teachers and administrators believe that education stakeholders are slow to Read more about Rural Education: Examining Capacity Challenges That Influence Educator Effectiveness[…]

50-State Strategy for Equitable Distribution of Teachers

Posted on April 16, 2014 by coreeducation

The U.S. Department of Education is developing a 50-state strategy that may finally put some teeth into a key part of the No Child Left Behind Act that has been largely ignored for the past 12 years: the inequitable distribution of the nation’s best teachers. Managing to bring more equity to the distribution of teachers Read more about 50-State Strategy for Equitable Distribution of Teachers[…]

Do College Rankings Matter to Students?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by coreeducation

Students, particularly low-income students, aren’t really thinking about college rankings when choosing higher education options, according to a new brief released by the American Council on Education. The study comes as the Obama administration works on its highly anticipated college rating system, which ACE says will become a de facto ranking system. Fewer than 25 Read more about Do College Rankings Matter to Students?[…]

Illinois scraps limits on basic skills test-taking

Posted on April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 by coreeducation

Just four years after passing a law mandating that prospective teachers must pass the Test of Academic Proficiency (TAP) within five attempts, Illinois state board of education officials have scrapped this law in hopes of “manipulating the pipeline” of new teachers. State officials, dismayed at the disproportionately low number of minority teachers compared to minority Read more about Illinois scraps limits on basic skills test-taking[…]

Changes Coming to the SAT

Posted on March 18, 2014September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

Last week, the College Board, under the leadership of David Coleman, announced upcoming (Spring 2016) wholesale changes to the format of the SAT, one of the two most common tests needed for students to gain college acceptance. For a few years now, officially every college that accepts the SAT also accepts the ACT, the main Read more about Changes Coming to the SAT[…]

Call for Nominations: Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education

Posted on March 12, 2014March 12, 2014 by coreeducation

In recent years a substantial number of policy makers, educators, corporate leaders and other concerned citizens have sought to find ways to narrow academic achievement gaps. Some view this task as a matter of basic fairness and equity – assuring that all students have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field – while Read more about Call for Nominations: Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education[…]

President Obama Launches My Brother’s Keeper Initiative

Posted on March 3, 2014 by coreeducation

“I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full potential.” President Barack Obama, January 28, 2014 President Obama is taking action to launch My Brother’s Keeper – a new initiative Read more about President Obama Launches My Brother’s Keeper Initiative[…]

Upcoming All4Ed Webinar: Partnerships to Increase College Enrollment

Posted on February 27, 2014March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

The Alliance for Excellent Education invites education professionals to attend an upcoming webinar entitled: “The Postsecondary Success Collaborative: Partnerships to Increase College Enrollment.” The free webinar will be held on March 24, 2014 from 1-2 pm, EST. The panelists for the event will be: Maud Abeel, Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships, FHI 360 Debora Borges-Carrera, Read more about Upcoming All4Ed Webinar: Partnerships to Increase College Enrollment[…]

A Summary of Recent IES Research on Access to Effective Teaching

Posted on February 5, 2014 by coreeducation

Newly emerging research is beginning to shed light on the extent to which disadvantaged students have access to effective teaching, based on value added measures. “Value added” is a teacher’s contribution to students’ learning gains. Because individual researchers have varied in their presentation of this evidence, it is challenging for practitioners to draw lessons from Read more about A Summary of Recent IES Research on Access to Effective Teaching[…]

Effects of Incentives for High-performing Teachers to Transfer to Low-achieving Schools

Posted on December 5, 2013December 5, 2013 by coreeducation

One policy response to the challenge of attracting high-performing teachers to low-achieving schools is offering teachers monetary incentives to transfer. This report examines impacts of transfer incentives — including the willingness of teachers to transfer when offered an incentive, teacher retention in the schools to which they transferred, and the impact of transfer incentives on Read more about Effects of Incentives for High-performing Teachers to Transfer to Low-achieving Schools[…]

A Rollback on ED waivers

Posted on December 2, 2013 by coreeducation

For the last two years, the Education Department has been using waivers to grant states lenience in the face of the looming repercussions of No Child Left Behind (2001). This process seems likely to continue until Congress does a re-write of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the most recent version of which is NCLB. Read more about A Rollback on ED waivers[…]

ED Announces 31 Finalists for $120 Million RTT-D

Posted on November 27, 2013September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

The U.S. Department of Education announced that 31 applications have been selected as finalists for the Race to the Top-District (RTTT-D) competition. The 2013 RTTT-D program will provide close to $120 million to support locally developed plans to personalize and improve student learning, directly increase student achievement and educator effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare Read more about ED Announces 31 Finalists for $120 Million RTT-D[…]

Education Nation IV

Posted on November 6, 2013 by coreeducation

Education Nation, which we blogged about last year, is, according to John Merrow, the “Super Bowl” of education events. Most all of the big names in Education Policy either presented there or were at least present. Moreover, many of these figures, such as Education Secretary Arne Duncan or former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, were interviewed Read more about Education Nation IV[…]

Risk and Rigor in the Classroom

Posted on October 28, 2013March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, recently released the latest in its one-of-a-kind series of essays on effective teaching written by and for practicing teachers. Titled “Going Deep: Empowering Students to Take Risks, Make Mistakes and Master Difficult Material,” the new paper was written by some of the Read more about Risk and Rigor in the Classroom[…]

How Bad is U.S. Education?

Posted on October 23, 2013September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

Thousands of pages have been written this month alone on the failings of America’s education system and what to do about it. Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, tries to debunk some of the pessimism of those, like Paul Peterson, who Read more about How Bad is U.S. Education?[…]

Private Funds and Public Schools in California

Posted on October 1, 2013 by coreeducation

Public schools are supposed to be funded by public tax dollars, right? It turns out that many wealthy school districts or town-run schools within larger districts, especially in California, regularly garner significant funds from private donations. For example, in Hillsborough, CA, public funds spread to a total of $13,500 in spending per student, but private Read more about Private Funds and Public Schools in California[…]