April 4, 2013

 LOCAL NEWS

The News Journal
Opinion: Educators more focused on ‘consciousness-raising’
The real vocation of some people entrusted with delivering primary and secondary education is to validate this proposition: The three R’s – formerly reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic – now are racism, reproduction and recycling. Especially racism. Consider Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. It evidently considers “instruction” synonymous with “propaganda,” which in the patois of progressivism is called “consciousness-raising.”

Letter to Editor: School board should care about all students in district

The Cape Gazette
Cape board still debating future of elementary schools
Cape Henlopen school board members appear set to tackle the question of how to consolidate two Milton elementary schools.  “It’s the elephant in the room, and if we don’t address it, the doggone elephant is going to have a baby,” said board Vice President Spencer Brittingham. The board needs to reach a decision on what to do with Milton Elementary and H.O. Brittingham Elementary, two Milton schools about a mile apart that serve significantly different student populations, he said.  School board member Sandi Minard agreed. “It’s the start of the discussion. We have to address the issue,” Minard said.

NATIONAL NEWS

National Review Online
The truth about Common Core
The new Common Core math and reading standards adopted by 45 states have come under a firestorm of criticism from tea-party activists and commentators such as Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin. Beck calls the standards a stealth “leftist indoctrination” plot by the Obama administration. Malkin warns that they will “eliminate American children’s core knowledge base in English, language arts and history.” As education scholars at two right-of-center think tanks, we feel compelled to set the record straight.

Education Week
A new era of classroom transparency
As teachers, we know that a final grade is largely a matter of mathematics—a summation of the grades a student has earned throughout the course. But the numbers that seem so clear in our grade books are often a mystery to students. This opacity isn’t limited to the teacher-student relationship, either. Up until recently, if a teacher wanted to share what was happening in the classroom with a parent, a collaborator, or an administrator, the options were pretty sparse: a course syllabus, a periodic newsletter, a quick conference, or occasional classroom updates at staff meetings.

But technology is changing that dynamic. The Internet, in particular, has become a powerful tool for sharing what was once seen as restricted. This has altered the teaching profession in numerous ways, creating a wealth of new online resources and networking and professional development opportunities. It is also enabling teachers to open up their classrooms and bring more transparency to their practices.

Test groups weigh unified accommodations policies
With a rollout of the new Common Core assessments expected in 2014-15, test developers are aiming to streamline the types of testing supports offered by states to special education students and English-language learners. They also want to make sure the tests are designed to be as broadly accessible as possible to all students, regardless of their profiles.

Las Vegas Review Journal
Gov. Sandoval announces more funds for K-12 education
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced that he wants to spend $25 million more than he previously proposed on K-12 education in the next biennium to help English language learners and expand all-day kindergarten. It will bring the total new commitment to the two priorities in Sandoval’s recommended budget to nearly $60 million. See ECS’ new reports on full-day kindergarten and kindergarten policies.

Austin American Statesman
Williams: Texas will get A-F school rating system
Education Commissioner Michael Williams told the Senate education committee he plans to simply order Texas to begin rating schools based on A-F letter grades starting next year—without waiting for bills proposing to do the same thing to work their way through the legislature. The current system features four classifications ranging from Exemplary to Academically Unacceptable.