June 7, 2013

Local News

Education Commission of the States
Delaware Receives 2013 ECS Frank Newman Award for State Innovation
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) will honor the state of Delaware with the prestigious Frank Newman Award for State Innovation at the 2013 National Forum on Education Policy in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 26. The award recognizes the state’s bold approach to comprehensive education reform and its successful model of collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders.

The Milford Beacon
Milford Middle School set to close after more than 80 years of history
For many members of the staff and student body, Milford Middle School has all the charm of an old house full of leaks, quirks and lacking air conditioning, but steeped in nostalgia. The building is in desperate need of repairs and is no longer fit to house students and staff.

National News

The New York Times
Obama promises to have high-speed internet in most schools in 5 years
President Obama visited an innovative middle school in central North Carolina on Thursday to demonstrate the Internet-based education programs that he is proposing to make available nationwide. Speaking to an audience of excited teenagers in a steamy gymnasium, Mr. Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to expand an existing program to provide discounted high-speed Internet service to schools and libraries, even if it meant increasing the fees that for years had been added to consumers’ phone bills. He said the initiative could lead to better technology at 99 percent of schools in five years.

Education News
Data, information collection helps improve MOOC experiences
Massive online open courses are evolving thanks to extensive data collection from the early efforts to offer college-level classes to a worldwide online audience for free. According to MIT Technology Review, as the number of MOOCs offered grows, course designers are already looking at ways to make MOOCs 2.0 better.

The Washington Post
Plans to replace ‘No Child’ law bring dueling visions of federal role in education
Republicans in Congress have rolled out legislation that would sharply limit the power of the executive branch and shrink the role of the federal government in public education in a rebuke to the Obama administration’s influence over education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have unveiled their own K-12 plan, which would cede more control to states but still maintain some federal oversight, especially of the worst-performing schools.

MLive
Common Core funding blocked in new Michigan budget after Senate vote
Michigan is poised to became the second state to “pause” implementation of the Common Core standards after the Senate approved a budget barring funding for the guidelines. The omnibus budget measure, which now heads to Gov. Rick Snyder, includes a provision that prevents the education department from spending any money on implementation of the standards. Indiana has passed similar legislation.

The Boston Globe
Jumble of education topics facing Congress
From pre-kindergarten to No Child Left Behind, from broadband-wired schools to college loans, students in every age group are suddenly finding the spotlight on Capitol Hill. After months of relative neglect, education issues are getting the attention of lawmakers—as well as President Barack Obama—just as the school year is ending and, for many college students, the cost of education is about to go up.

Related Topics: American Council on Education, asssessments, Council of Chief State School Officers, Coursera, Data Coaches, Data Systems, digital divide, E-Rate, Early Learning Challenge, Education, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Education Technology, Federal Communications Commission, Governor Jack Markell, Labor and Pensions Committee, Mackinac Policy Conference, Milford Central Academy, National Governors Association, Online Learning, President Barack Obama, Race to the Top, Representative John Kline, Schools and Libraries program, Senate Health, Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Tom Harkin, Stafford loan, standardized tests, student performance, Teacher Evaluation, Universal Service Fund, Vision 2015, world language immersion program