August 27, 2012
Local News
The News Journal
Catch and fix student problems at the start
An editorial
Academically it’s a long way from third to 12th grade. But could holding back third-graders with inadequate reading skills make that developmental journey more profitable? According to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a third of U.S. fourth-graders failed to show a basic level of reading proficiency. These children are less likely to be held back again, when compared to those who aren’t.
DFM News
New Secretary of Education ready to communicate education priorities
Overall, Murphy said his goal and the goal of DDOE is to support teachers, parents and students in having the most successful educational experience possible. He said education has evolved in this direction over the last 10 years. “Our role as leaders in education, my role and the role of my department is about supporting our schools,” Murphy said. “It’s about empowering those people who are closest to our children and providing them with the resources and the routines they need to do really good work.”
National News
The New York Times
Starving the future
An op-ed by Charles M. Blow
We’re being outpaced in producing the employees of the future. Emerging economic powers China and India are heavily investing in educating the world’s future workers while we squabble about punishing teachers and coddling children. Instead of dramatically upping our investment in our children’s education so that they’ll be able to compete in a future that has more educated foreign job seekers, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction.
Huffington Post
PBS NewsHour profiles Providence School District’s efforts to reinvent summer school, close achievement gap
In an effort to reduce the academic gap between wealthy and poor students, a Providence, Rhode Island district program is reinventing summer school. The Summer Scholars Program targets middle school students and is a partnership between the district and 30 organizations. Providence educators turned to hands-on-learning because they were not satisfied with the results and scores traditional teaching was yielding.
Education Week
Public poll finds divided views of common standards
The annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll finds that only half of those queried think the Common Core State Standards would improve the quality of education in their communities. And 37% said the standards would actually make American education less competitive. Yet, three quarters of respondents thought the common standards would improve “consistency” in the quality of schooling among states and districts.
N.Y.C. study finds vouchers boost blacks’ college-going rates
Receiving a voucher to attend a private school in New York City did not increase the likelihood of attending college for most students, but did increase college-going rates for black students, according to a new study. African-American students who used the vouchers were 8.7 percentage points, or 24%, more likely to attend college as their peers who were not winners in the voucher lottery.
Report outlines states’ teacher-policy shifts
While all 21 states require student learning to count in teacher evaluations, some states don’t require such evaluations annually or don’t specify how much weight student achievement should be given, according to a comprehensive report on teaching quality policies. In general, states have done less to prescribe how the evaluations will affect issues like tenure, seniority, and teacher preparation.
Related Topics: DDOE, Expanded Learning Time, global competiveness, Higher Education, Secretary Murphy, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Evaluation, Teacher Preparation