Fixing income inequality in schools

From the Washington Post:

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by John Jackson, president of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and Pedro Noguera, the Peter L. Agnew professor of education at New York University.

By John H. Jackson and Pedro Noguera

If it takes a village to raise a child, the same village must [...]

Montgomery considers social emotional aspects of children

From Bethesda Magazine.com:

Would you rather have an academically successful kid who can’t quite handle life’s social and emotional challenges or an average student able to deal with success and failure with equal aplomb?

Most of us probably hope for the whole package: a caring, well-adjusted child who works hard in school and strives to [...]

States consider teacher performance as part of licensing

From the Hechinger Report:

To earn a teaching license in most states, candidates must pass a handful of exams — largely multiple-choice — that test basic skills and knowledge of specific subjects. Some states also include tests that focus on teaching strategies. One state, Montana, requires no tests at all, just graduation from a teaching [...]

Georgia considers student comments as part of teacher evaluations

From the Hechinger Report: Kindergartners in Georgia — many of whom don’t yet read — could soon play an important role in deciding which teachers get raises or get fired. Under a new pilot program, 5-year-olds will be guided through a survey that includes such statements as “My teacher knows a lot about what he [...]

Harvard, MIT to offer free online courses

From the Hechinger Report:

Harvard University announced today that it is joining MIT in offering free online courses—and that the two institutions will together spend $60 million on a project that will grant certificates of completion to those who finish a Harvard or MIT course online.

The universities will also make their courses available at [...]

Anne Arundel school budget controversy

From the Baltimore Sun: 

At a crowded County Council budget hearing Monday night, Anne Arundel schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell asked those in the auditorium who had come to voice support for public education to stand.

Nearly everyone stood, joining those already standing along walls and in corners at Old Mill High School in Millersville.

The [...]

Class size growing in Baltimore County

From the Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County parents and legislators will ask incoming schools Superintendent Dallas Dance to consider putting more teachers in high schools, where class sizes have swelled since positions were eliminated a year ago.

Maryland Sen. James Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat, said he wants Dance to examine restoring positions at high schools, [...]

Study calls for new training for early ed teachers

From Education Week:

Recently we wrote about a call to align the child-care and early-education professions with unified standards and professional development to improve workforce quality. Here’s news about another report that explores the need to revise training for teachers who work with our youngest learners.

Laura Bornfreund, a senior policy analyst for New America [...]

New Jersey test asks students to reveal a secret

From the Huffington Post:

TRENTON, N.J. — State education officials will no longer use a standardized test question that asked third-graders to reveal a secret and write about why it was difficult to keep.

The question appeared on the writing portion of some versions of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge given to [...]

Can states do education reform? No

From Education Week:

The country is in the throes of ideological polarization about the role and influence of the federal government in every policy realm. This debate, which is a point of contention in the 2012 presidential race, concerns every major public-policy realm, be it business and finance regulation, health care, energy, social services, or [...]