The Education Department has recently released news of extensions given to states which had previously received NCLB waivers. So, in essence, ED is providing another year to states to achieve the changes they agreed to achieve when they first obtained waivers. This blog has written extensively in the past about the waiver process. Opinions are Read more about The Recent Influx of ED Waivers, and more to come[…]
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[…]
The Obama administration recently approved eight California school districts (Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified, Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, Sacramento City Unified, San Francisco Unified, Sanger Unified, and Santa Ana Unified) for a one year district waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB), in exchange for locally developed plans to prepare all students for college Read more about Waivers for States, Waivers for Districts?[…]
The U.S. Department of Education has decided that due to ambitious timelines for the implementation of college and career-ready standards, new assessments aligned with those standards, and new teacher and principal evaluations, states may request waivers to ensure that there is sufficient time to prepare teachers for implementation of the new standards before stakes are Read more about A Waiver from the Waivers[…]
The Department is currently seeking applications for the Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program and the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program. The AP Test Free Program awards grants to states to enable them to pay all or a portion of AP test fees on behalf of low-income students. Applications are due June 3. The Read more about Education Department seeks Applications for Student Test Fee Waivers[…]
Various education-focused organizations, as well as government officials, have been questioning the recent policy of Education secretary Arne Duncan and the Obama Administration to provide waivers to those states who have not been able to meet the standards laid out by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Originally, NCLB laid out the goal Read more about Are NCLB Waivers Ignoring the Importance of Graduation Rates?[…]
On June 29, the Department of Education announced that waiver applications from five more states have been approved. Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia bring the total of waiver-approved states to 24, with 13 states still waiting for a decision. The big surprise for many observers was the approval of Virginia’s waiver. Part of Read more about Five More States Get Waivers[…]
The Obama administration approved eight additional states for flexibility from key provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in exchange for state-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership. The announcement brings the number of states with waivers to 19. Eighteen Read more about Waivers: Round Two Approvals[…]
Twenty six more states plus DC have applied for waivers to free them from many NCLB requirements. If the new applicants are approved, only 13 states will still be operating under the full law (11 states have already received waivers—you can read the story here). In exchange for waivers, the states have to agree to Read more about More States Apply for Waivers[…]
On February 9, the Department of Education announced that ten states received waivers from some of the stringent requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee will now have the opportunity to use alternative methods to improving student achievement, and to gauge achievement Read more about 10 States Receive NCLB Waivers[…]
Earlier this week, President Obama gave the Department of Education the go-ahead on beginning to grant waivers to states seeking relief from some provisions of ESEA /NCLB. “We want to deliver a very important message: Relief is on the way,” said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. “Low expectations, uneven standards Read more about Relief Waivers: Cure What Ails You?[…]
Instructional time policy is critical to education service delivery because it sets minimum, and sometimes maximum, requirements for learning time. Each state defines instructional time differently, and states have varying requirements in policy. Education Commission of the States (ECS) has released three papers that provide an easy reference for top-level information on instructional time, including Read more about Instructional Time Policy 101[…]
Writing for the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Patricia Saenz-Armstrong explores how student teaching and initial licensure practices are shifting during this time of school closures. Excerpts from the piece appear below: School closures have obvious impacts on current students and teachers and are also creating challenges for teacher candidates hoping to graduate this Read more about Student Teaching and Initial Licensure in the Times of Coronavirus[…]
As states and districts work to develop new accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act, six California districts who received federal waivers under the Obama administration are getting the first hints of how more holistic accountability systems might work. Researchers and district officials discussed the first evaluations of the California Office to Reform Education, Read more about Early Results in California’s CORE Districts[…]
When the U.S. Department of Education granted states waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), those waivers came with conditions. The waivers required states to adopt teacher evaluations that, among other requirements, were based in part on student performance data. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) ends these federal requirements for teacher evaluations. Read more about What does ESSA say about teacher evaluation?[…]
At a crucial moment with the best possibility of an ESEA re-authorization on the near horizon and with only about one year left before the end of the Obama administration, long-serving Education Secretary Arne Duncan has stepped down. It is unclear why, but we do know that the President wanted Duncan to finish the course: Read more about Arne Duncan Stepping Down as Education Secretary[…]