July 1, 2014

National News

Education Week
Survey: teachers worldwide seek more opportunities for collaboration
U.S. teachers report that they are working more than international peers, but most are satisfied with their job.

NCLB waiver states struggle to turn around low-performing schools
Seventeen out of 34 No Child Left Behind waiver states for which monitoring reports have been released by the Education Department were cited for not following through on their plans for fixing up “priority” schools—those bottom 5 percent of performers, according to an Education Week analysis.

Why good principals are hard to find and keep
A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute is the latest outfit to delve into the school leadership issues that vex so many districts, particularly high-poverty, urban school systems.

Lawrence Journal-World
State official turn their attention to developmental education
Kansas higher education officials released recommendations to reduce remedial needs before students graduate from high school and provide funds to postsecondary institutions to develop instructional practices to improve the success of underprepared students.

MLive
Michigan teachers scramble to create lesson plans, now that MEAP test is back on
After the Michigan Legislature decided in June to throw out the Smarter Balanced test for next school year, educators are now scrambling to prepare lesson plans geared toward the MEAP. The result: A lot of teacher uncertainty about what they should emphasize in the classroom.

San Jose Mercury News
States encourage bilingualism with diploma seals
Oregon is piloting a program to include bilingual seals on students’ high school diplomas if they demonstrate proficiency in English and Spanish. California, New Mexico, Washington, Illinois and Louisiana are among the other states that are recognizing and rewarding bilingual education.