WestEd believes that the Common Core State Standards offer educators a unique opportunity to use formative assessment to help raise student achievement. They hope to help make this happen with the release of three new papers about formative assessment. WestEd, an agency that works with education and other communities to Read more
As the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) moves ever closer, debate over them certainly has not slowed, yet that does not mean that the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and others, like the National Math and Science Initiative, aren’t doing their best Read more
Even though it has been known for some time that teachers and principals play the largest role in student success, it is only recently that districts and schools have started making requisite changes to their strategic management of talent. This is the central contention of Allan Odden’s new report, Getting Read more
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 Read more
The Carnegie Corporation of New York has committed $15 million to “catalyze district-based new school design work” that will focus on individualized learning. To support this effort, they have also recently published a report, Opportunity by Design: New High School Models for Student Success. This report calls for a focus Read more
The Education Division of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announces winners and finalists in its Innovation Incubator Program. The program was held during the annual flagship Ed Tech Industry Summit, May 5-7, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Ten products and services were featured during the event, Read more
Over the last 15 years, TNTP, a national nonprofit committed to ending the injustice of educational inequality, has shared what they have learned about education policy and effective teaching mainly through publications like “The Irreplaceables.” Recently, they have launched a TNTP blog. TNTP hopes to use the blog to offer Read more
Last month, the Democratic Party in California held a three day convention. The convention, at which the California Teachers Association was prominently represented, sparked a wave of rhetoric that reveals at least a temporary rift among some members and former members of the Democratic Party in California. The rift concerns Read more
Two years ago, active classroom teachers working temporarily at the U.S. Department of Education launched a national dialogue with their classroom colleagues to talk openly and honestly about the challenges and aspirations of America’s teachers. The Education Department engaged more than 5,700 educators nationwide to develop and refine a vision Read more
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) released the draft grade- and subject-specific performance level descriptors (PLDs) in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics, and they are available for public comment through May 8, 2013. Performance levels, sometimes referred to as “achievement levels,” are the broad, Read more
In case you missed it, the final Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a new set of voluntary, rigorous, and internationally benchmarked standards for K-12 science education, have been released. Twenty six states and their broad-based teams worked together for two years with a 41-member writing team and partners to develop Read more
Back in mid-March, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, hosted the third International Summit on the Teaching Profession. This particular summit focused on teacher quality, including professional standards and teacher appraisal. The past two took place in New York City at the invitation of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Marc Tucker of the National Read more
A newly updated and released website, The Future Ready Project, provides college and career readiness advocates with the information, strategies, messages and tools they need to effectively make the case for the college- and career- ready agenda in their states and communities. With customizable resources and fact sheets, stakeholders may Read more
With news that 7 teachers in Florida, with the support of the National Education Association, are suing the Florida State Education Department, the issue of how to evaluate teachers is again making headlines. The teachers in Florida assert that their due process and equal protection rights are being violated because Read more
Mathematics education in the U.S. has always been a complicated issue: on the one hand, there is a general consensus that mathematics is a fundamental skill that all students should possess, yet there is also the common – and false – perception that not all students are “good at math” Read more
FairTest, an organization that “advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools”, has prepared a report on confirmed incidences of schools cheating on standardized tests in recent years. The report includes discussion of multiple means through which schools Read more