January 10, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Prescription for learning
The STEM Academy is a major piece of a restructuring plan at Glasgow that aims to boost student achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Incoming students also can choose the Business and Entrepreneurship Academy or the Arts and Humanities Academy. School leaders hope all three options will graduate students who are either ready for college or have gained useful job skills.
National News
Education Week
Combined measures better at gauging teacher effectiveness, study finds
Student feedback, test-score growth calculations, and observations of practice appear to pick up different but complementary information that, combined, can provide an accurate picture of teacher performance, according to a study released by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This composite measure predicted fairly accurately how much high-performing teachers would boost their students’ test scores.
Arizona Republic
Funds lacking for tougher education standards
Arizona leaders have called for tougher new education standards, but the cost to implement the Common Core standards has fallen primarily to districts, which have seen state funding drop by about 15% since 2008. A document from the state education department pegged the implementation cost over the next two years at $131 million.
Inside Higher Ed
Growth for online learning
More than 6.7 million, or roughly a third, of all students enrolled in postsecondary education took an online course for credit in fall 2011, according to an annual survey. The number of online enrollees represented the smallest percentage increase in the 10 years, but overall college enrollment also fell. For the first time, the survey asked institutional officials about their views of MOOCs — massive open online courses.
Education Week
Nearly $40 million in Race to Top funds for Maryland in jeopardy
Maryland received a sternly worded letter from the Education Department Dec. 6, as federal officials have placed several major conditions on $37.9 million of the state’s $250 million Race to the Top grant. By the time school’s chief, Dr. Lillian Lowery got her Race to the Top team in Maryland assembled in October, the state was 6 to 10 months behind schedule. “We had to take a plan that was conceptual and put it in high gear to get it on track,” she said in an interview.
Related Topics: next generation learning, Online Learning, Partnership Zone, STEM, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Evaluation