In an update to the story that this blog has been tracking for some time (see our two past blogs about this subject here and here), the US Department of Education has given its strongest confirmation yet that it is willing to embrace a model of judging educational progress and mastery that transcends the credit Read more about Department of Education Letter Could Put Cracks in the Credit Hour[…]
The U.S. Department of Education announced the start of the $150 million 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition with the release of the program’s invitation for pre-applications for the i3 “Development” grant category and the notice of final priorities for the i3 program overall. The announcement incorporates several improvements the Department has made to Read more about ED Launches 2013 i3 Competition[…]
The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 as a $600 million plan to “support efforts to develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools” and bolstered in 2009 under the Obama Administration, has now been functioning long enough to evaluate some of its results. Five districts are nearing the end Read more about Is the Teacher Incentive Fund a Good Investment?[…]
The Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education recently released a report called Expanding Evidence Approaches for Learning in a Digital World. The OET was most interested in “the role of new types of data and analytic capabilities in supporting grit, tenacity, and perseverance.” Here is more of their explanation of their Read more about Promoting Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance[…]
The U.S. Education Department has announced funding for a new AmeriCorps grant program focused on School Turnaround. This action extends the Together for Tomorrow program that focuses on increased community engagement in low-performing schools. Below is the explanation from the Education Department blog: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer Read more about Education Department promises $15 million to School Turnaround AmeriCorps program[…]
Recently, Joshua Starr, the Superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools (MD), one of the wealthiest, largest, and high-achieving school districts in the United States, went public with his idea that there be a three-year moratorium on federally mandated standardized testing. He is not fundamentally opposed to all standardized testing, but he does have a problem Read more about The Looming Clash between Common Core and Standardized Testing[…]
Big changes may be coming in the way the Department of Education selects grant recipients. Last year, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo to federal agencies requiring them to demonstrate the use of evidence in their fiscal 2014 budget requests. This new requirement signals a shift of emphasis toward the use of Read more about Education Department Demands more Evidence[…]
Jason Delisle and Clare McCann at Ed Money Watch have put together a very helpful breakdown of what all of the Congressional complications surrounding the budget mean for education. We have shortened their summary into a few definitions of key terms to understand: Continuing Resolution: As of now, the US budget is functioning under a Read more about Federal Education Funding: What do we know?[…]
Frederick M. Hess and Andrew P. Kelly urge a more “measured approach to education reform” from the federal level in their report, What Uncle Sam Can (and cannot) do to Improve K-12 Schooling: Lessons for the next Four Years. The introduction to the report offers a mixed review of the last four years of federal Read more about AEI Education offers check-up on Education Department[…]
On February 1, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education released state-specific reports for 12 Race to the Top grantees, detailing their progress on transforming education at the local level. The reports highlight the second-year work and accomplishments of states awarded funding through the first two phases of Race to the Top: Delaware, the District of Read more about What are states doing with their Race to the Top funding?[…]
ASCD, one of the largest international organizations of teaching professionals, has set their 2013 legislative agenda, and that agenda, quite simply, is legislation. The “key priority” for ASCD and its members in 2013 in terms of federal public policy priorities is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), of which the most Read more about ASCD sets 2013 Legislative Agenda[…]
With the release of new guidelines broken down into five categories, the US Education Department has offered increased clarity to state and local school systems wondering about specifics of government education stipulations. As this blog posted about recently, the increased clarity is particularly important in light of the combined facts of continuing budgetary difficulties on Read more about Education Department releases new guidelines on ESEA flexibility[…]
The National Center for Education Statistics, in conjunction with the Institute of Education Sciences and the U.S. Department of Education, has recently released the Forum Guide to Taking Action with Education Data. The goal of the new Forum Guide is to give educators practical ideas about how they can process data and implement concrete changes Read more about Education Department releases Forum Guide on education data[…]
The California Department of Education, currently the lightning rod for national education policy, was recently denied a No Child Left Behind waiver by the U.S. Department of Education. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia have thus far been granted NCLB waivers, with 10 more states’ waiver applications pending. This means that Read more about California’s Request for NCLB Waiver Rejected[…]
The budgetary compromise reached by the House and Senate on January 1 that puts off major funding decisions until March has been hailed by some, especially those who see it as preventing some of the largest ever across-the-board cuts to government programs and those hoping that it will act as a building block to a Read more about The delayed Fiscal Cliff: Where does Education stand?[…]
10 states, with another 4 more having recently wrapped up litigation, currently face lawsuits regarding increased funding for education. This phenomenon is not new. Lawsuits supported by pro-school funding organizations have been taking place for decades, although the economic recession of the last five years has reignited a long-standing debate about school funding. In 1973, Read more about 10 States Face Education Funding Lawsuits[…]